When A Badass Loves A Diva
by JessiMae888
Summary: She's a diva. He's a badass. She's got it made . He works hard for the money. She's a Christian. He's Jewish. What happens when Puck catches feelings for the girl who is so not right for him. Slightly AU. Slightly OOC. Puckcedes. Mature Content
1. The Breakup

**Author's note:**

**This story starts out on season 1 episode 18 Laryngitis and some dialogue has been taken from that episode. I have made Puck a little (a lot) darker and edgier in this fic than he is shown on Glee. Mercedes is a little more badass mixed with sassy in this story than on Glee, that's the effect a badass will have on you. This is definitely the more HBO or Showtime version of Glee. Think Glee and Shameless mixed together. **

**This is the story of what happens when a badass falls in love with a diva and how he comes to terms with his feelings. **

**I can already tell that this will be told mostly from Puck's POV as (in my mind) he is easier to write for than Mercedes, but you will definitely be hearing from your girl. Things will be mostly canon but will taper of into AU as the story progresses. **

**I really like the character of Puck and I don't like what RIB and the staff writers have done to him (plus I should jump their stylist for messing up his mohawk too - {hangs and shakes head in shame}). So, he's gonna have a few of the things they have denied him on the show.**

**Don't forget to leave your two cents when you're done. :P**

**Warning: This chapter contains drug use.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own GLEE or anything else (tv shows, movies, songs) mentioned in this fic. I'm just borrowing them for a bit of fun. **

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When A Badass Loves A Diva

Chapter 1

Puck 

I was just finishing up at my locker trying to decide whether I should skip Geometry and light one up in my truck when I turned around to see Mercedes pass me by. I looked her up and down for a few seconds then focused on that perfect ass of hers.

"Hey mama, where's your Cheerios uniform?" I asked while following her down the hall.

"I quit," came her curt response.

"Look I know Glee club may be super nerdy or whatever, but it's taught me something very important: you have to be true to who you are. That's something you may want to think about. 'Cause the guy I saw throwing dweebs in the dumpster yesterday, I don't like him very much. And you know what? I don't think you do either," she told me and then left me standing in the middle of the hallway feeling like Lima's leading loser, once again.

Dammit!

That's the third time I had been dumped this year. What the fuck! I mean I know it was just an agreement and all, but how do you get dumped from a fake relationship? Fuck! I'm definitely about to get lit now. I swear if Jacob Ben Israel shows his ugly Jew fro'd face, I'm dumpster tossing his ass just for the hell of it.

The death glares I was making as I was heading to the student parking lot made sure no one got in my way, hell some of the students and even a few teachers scrambled to duck into classrooms when they saw my mean mug. I made it to the truck with no interruptions. I was so glad that I parked on the far end under the trees; that way no one would notice the smoke. I settled in and turned the key in the ignition so I could listen to my cd. I grabbed my joint from the glove box then rolled down my window about an inch. I lit that bitch, inhaled then held it in my lungs for a few seconds and all my problems just started floating away. My mind got hazy and I was super glad that lunch came after this period 'cause I was gonna have the munchies like a muthafucka.

I closed my eyes and got lost in the song Stellar by Incubus. When dude started singing about what it felt like to be inside his girl, my mind instantly brought up thick chocolate thighs that led up to the most bodacious booty I'd ever seen encased in a red and white Cheerios skirt. My mind's perusal of her body followed the dip of her waist and slid up to those bountiful melons on her chest slightly bulging from their captivity in the top of the uniform. My vision flowed up towards her face then lingered on those plump lips and landed on those beautiful ebony eyes. The same eyes I'd stared into a few minutes ago. And just like that my high was blown and her words started floating back to me.

_I don't like him very much. And… I don't think you do either._

I mean who the hell does Mercedes think she is? She doesn't know me! **I'm** Puckasaurus! **I** run this shit! Me and Finn have been dumpster tossing geeks since middle school when he hit his freakish growth spurt. That shit ain't gonna change. This is me, **all** day, **every**day. So what if I'm in the Glee club. Glee isn't gonna gay me up.

And it should've been me that dumped her! I was gonna do it when she first told me she'd quit the Cheerios since that broke our agreement, but she jumped into her little speech too quick and I couldn't handle business. Just like when Quinn wouldn't let me be there for her and the baby when she was trying to pass everything onto Finn. Well that shit sure did backfire on her 'cause now that Finn knows it's mine and consequently kicked her ass out, she's staying with me and mines where she belongs.

Fuck!

With my high officially blown, I put out my joint and reached in the glove box for my cologne and sprayed myself then sprayed into the air while fanning my hand around to get the smell out. If Quinn figures out that I was smoking when she gets a ride home with me later today that would be another strike against me towards being a good father for our kid. I have to make sure she sees that I'm trying and we can make this whole 'being a family thing' work some kinda way. I'm not gonna be the shit father my dad is, no matter what it takes, I'll do right by my kid. Before I left the truck, I made sure I rolled down the passenger window a bit so that it would air out by the end of the school day.

I started making my way back into school just as the bell for lunch rang. On my way to the cafeteria, I thought about Mercedes again. I don't think I'll even count her on my personal list of girls. I mean she was a big girl, and Puckzilla doesn't do big girls. Plus, I didn't even get that far with her, just a peck on the cheek, and I remember a hug where I grabbed her ass for about 3 seconds before she swatted my hand away, but that was it. If I was honest with myself I would admit that she has the best ass in the whole school. But honesty is not my best policy, badass is.

When I made it to the cafeteria, I took my place in line and saw that I was a few people behind Santana. Some lines from the song "On To the Next One" started playing in my head. I remembered how heated she got when she and Mercedes where damn near fighting over me during that song in glee. Even though my Mohawk hadn't grown back yet and my street cred' hadn't really been solidified, I was hoping there was a way I could get back in her good graces so that I could get back to filling those tight spaces of hers. But then again I remembered she was just like me. Sex sharks tend to stick together. There was no need to worry over a sure thing.

* * *

Mercedes

Oh my God.

I just quit the Cheerios.

And, I just quit Puck too.

So that's it, I was back to being a nobody and I couldn't have felt better. I could finally just be myself. Diva in training. No, diva extraordinaire! Mercedes! I didn't have to put up with Sue anymore. No more, lose this weight, sing this song, and dance this jig. I was so glad that that unholy union with the Cheerios and the queen of all hell Sue Sylvester was finally severed. I was my own woman now. But I had to admit, I did feel just a teensy bit (like maybe 5%) bad about letting Puck go. I mean he was my first crush and all.

I remember when I first saw him come in the choir room. My first thoughts were 'What the hell is he doing here' and 'Damn, baby looks fine today'. But I didn't let my thoughts get the best of me. There was no way a guy as fine as him would ever even want to associate himself with me. I mean I knew I was beautiful just not everyone could see it, so I just figured he would be just as blind. As time went by that seemed to be the case, he was always hooking up with random girls. I saw him go from Brittany to Santana to some other cheerleader chick. It was like he had a damn Cheerio merry-go-round on rotation. So just by watching who he picked, I knew I wasn't his type.

Then one day I saw all these couples all coupled up and my gaze landed on him and Santana making out in the hallway. I longed for him so bad in that moment. I will never tell another soul this but I would have given anything to have been Santana right then. Oh and not to mention that time when we were shooting the mattress commercial to raise money for glee, they had us in the same bed and to this day, I still blush internally at the dirty thoughts I had running through my mind at that moment.

So when Puck first approached me out of the blue and started talking about history of blacks and Jews sticking together, a part of me thought he was trying to play some sort of joke on me and I was seriously hoping this was not a repeat of _She's All That_. But then as he explained I realized that I was going to be the one with the power and he would be solely dependent on my social status to boost his own. I wasn't completely cool with the fact that my first boyfriend was with me out of social convenience and not a real relationship but beggars can't be choosers. Besides, I got to hang out with my crush and I thought I would probably get some good make out sessions out of it too. Even Matt and I had hung out on every now and then but he never made a move and his lack of interest in me other than as a friend had this sistah jonesin' for some lovin', from anybody really.

The time I spent with Puck wasn't so bad. We hung out a few times after school. He would come by my house after football practice and I would help him a bit in some of his weaker subjects. My parents met him and told me to be careful with him. Apparently, word got around and they already knew that he was a pool cleaning man-whore and had a bundle on the way. They didn't know who he had gotten pregnant and I was in 'don't ask, don't tell' mode so I didn't divulge that information or it would've been over before it started. I assured them that it wasn't anything serious and that we were basically just two good friends playing boyfriend and girlfriend together. They seemed to accept the total b.s. I threw at them and left us to finish our homework. Well at least I thought they did.

Later on that week, my mom pulled me out of school for a doctor's appointment. We get there and I'm sitting uncomfortably on the examination seat with the loud, crinkly paper trying not to make a move so I won't irritate the paper into making that noise again. Mom was sitting in the corner in the guest chair looking just as uncomfortable as I was. You'd think with her being married to a dentist that she would be over any fears of the doctor's office or any sterile environments but that didn't seem to be the case. After a few moments of awkward silence, Dr. Truman finally stepped into the room.

"Mercedes! How's my favorite patient feeling today!" he exclaimed as he came to stand in front of me and wrap my hand in both of his for a double-handed shake. I had been going to Dr. Truman since I was in diapers. He actually went to the same school as my father for undergrad and they were roommates for most of college. When the time came for them to graduate, they went to separate schools to train in their different fields but settled in the same town to practice and renewed their friendship.

"I'm doing fine, how's Mrs. Truman and the twins?" I inquired.

"Their all doing great, in fact there's a concert next Friday that Mandy and I wanted to attend. We would be out of town for the evening and we would like our favorite babysitter to keep watch over Joey and Jennifer. If you're not too busy, do you think you could watch them for us?" Dr. Truman asked looking between me and my mother for approval.

Being that my father is a dentist and my mother a lawyer, money really isn't an issue for me. But my father made it a point that I would not become some spoiled brat like the kids they used to show on _My Super Sweet Sixteen_. He wanted me to know the value of a dollar and to develop a work ethic that would be admired by the president himself. My dad told me that he wouldn't be giving me an allowance and that if I wanted something I'd have to work for it myself. I decided that I would babysit and it's turned into somewhat of a little business.

"Mercedes would love to babysit for you guys, besides I don't think she has anything planned that far in advance anyways," my mom answered for me with an oddly perky attitude that belied her previously anxious demeanor. That was very presumptuous of her. She has no idea what I could have planned so why is she answering for me. And then I thought about it, my parents probably wanted to do something that night and needed a way to get me out of the house. I visibly shuddered at the thought and let it slide for now.

"She's right Dr. Truman, I'm free and I'd love to see the twins again," I agreed happily. I was truly happy to see those two again. Joey and Jennifer are such sweet and joyful kids that I hope to have twins just like them one day.

"Great! Well, now that we've gotten the personal stuff out of the way, let's get down to business," Dr. Truman exclaimed while reaching for my chart. "Now I see here that you've come in for a contraceptive consultation."

"What! I thought I was coming in for a regular check up. Mom said…" and then I remembered mom didn't say a damn thing. I just assumed I was coming in for a physical or something. I should've known they would be weary of Puck being in my life but I didn't think it would be this bad.

"Mom, I already told you guys that me and Puck aren't even that serious. We don't even like each other like that!" I said while turning to her outraged that they would just spring this on me without telling me anything. Dr. Truman looked a little flustered at my outburst and turned to my mother to ask if we needed some time alone. She nodded and he eagerly exited the room.

"Mom, I don't need to be on birth control. Puck and I aren't having sex and we won't be in the near future. I don't even need it for period regulation because they come every 28 days like clockwork," I defended while she approached me and sat next to me on the examination table. The paper made that odd crinkling, rubbing noise as her weight settled on it.

"Look honey, I know- I know you guys aren't that serious. It's obvious okay? But when you brought Puck home that first time, you father and I got a reality check that you are not our little girl anymore and you are becoming a woman. I'm not saying that you and Puck will become sexually active but there will be other guys and you may even fall deeply in love with one and want to express that love physically. We want you to be well prepared and informed should that day happen. Plus, by starting you off on birth control so early in your life, it will be like a second nature to you and maybe you won't have to go through a situation like Puck's in right now," she wrapped her arm around my shoulders and held me close to her as I placed my head in the crook of her neck. Now that she explained it, it did make sense to me and I understood where this was coming from so I wasn't so pissed anymore.

"And to be honest, I'm really glad that Puck is just a friend to you because he's not who I would've chosen as your first real boyfriend. Maybe a nice respectable young man like Matt would've been a better choice. But that's just a pipe dream because he's more like a brother to you than Malcolm is in some ways," she added and I nodded my head in agreement at her statement. Matt really is like a brother to me, he's had my back in so many situations especially in glee. And, no matter how much I may want that first kiss with someone special, it definitely won't be him because it would just be too weird.

I wrapped my arms around her slim waist and told her that I was okay with it now and that she could call Dr. Truman back in now. The rest of the visit went on without a hitch. I got my birth control and my mother breathed a sigh of relief at avoiding the 'catastrophe' which is teen pregnancy.

Thinking back to the present, I don't have to worry about any of that now because I'm single and I can focus on more important things like getting more solos in glee, making sure my weave stays slushie free, finding a **real** boyfriend, and enjoying tater tots whenever they show up on the menu at lunch. To celebrate my newfound single status, I texted Tina and Kurt for a sleepover tonight so we can discuss my new outlook on life as a truly happy single woman.


	2. Reflection

**Author's note: **

**WooHoo! So I've come to really appreciate reviews/alerts/favorites, etc. I get so giddy everytime I see one. I love that you guys like this. I feel like Sally Field "You like me, you really like me!" LOL, well you don't like me per se, you just like what I do for you. And that's ok 'cause I like doing it. Ok, let me stop.**

**This chapter is all from Puck's POV (I told you he was easy to write for). Don't worry, I sprinkled some Mercedes in and I think you're gonna like it (folds hands into a triangle and murmurs "Excellent" in a Montgomery Burns fashion). **

**Also, I noticed an inconsistency with Puck that the writers screwed up on. In the Episode Mashup in season 1, Puck and his family are gathered watching Schindler's List while eating Chinese food. Puck mentioned something about eating sweet and sour pork. But he also mentioned something about the whole thing being a tradition that his mother did so that they could feel closer to their roots. (Ding Ding Ding). Then Quinn mentions on the episode Laryngitis in season 1 that Puck's mother won't let her eat bacon. So which is it RIB, is Puck's family kosher or not? For this story he's kosher. That's right, I'm taking names and righting wrongs. **

**I just want to let you know that this chapter is much longer than the previous. I got a whole season to rush through to get to the good stuff (Puckcedes relationship). And there will be key changes along the way. I will mix canon and AU elements at will. **

**Warning: This chapter contains drug and alcohol references and is not suited for young audiences. Reader discretion is advised.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own GLEE or anything else (tv shows, movies, songs) mentioned in this fic. I'm just borrowing them all for a bit of fun.**

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Chapter 2

Puck

Lately I've had a lot of time on my hands to sit and think about my life and how it got so fucked up so quickly. After that waste of time I spent in a "relationship" with me and Mercedes, things took a sudden turn. Quinn, being the spoiled princess that she is, felt that she was too good to live at Che' Puckerman with me and took Mercedes' offer to stay at her house on the good side of town. And that was strike three for Mercedes. I mean what the fuck! Everybody knew that I was trying to do right by Quinn. I fucked up and I was trying to make good on it by being there for my baby and Quinn by being the man my dad could never be and here this chick comes all the way from left field messing up all my plans. I don't care how cute she is, she better not **ever** speak to me again.

And Quinn! Don't let me get started on Quinn. She was going around complaining about how bad it was staying with us, telling people that my mom worked odd hours and wouldn't let her eat bacon and shit. We're kosher, so what, get the fuck over it! We don't eat the pig among other things. I mean if she wants to clog her arteries full of pork grease, she can do that shit on her own time, just not while she's carrying my Beth. And that's another thing. She wouldn't let me name the kid Jackie Daniels which I thought was a totally kickass name. So I compromised just to please her and found the perfect song to say how I felt about my baby girl and sang it in glee. She was so emotional and all after hearing it but she still wanted to give our baby up for adoption even after we found a name for her. I just couldn't figure this chick out. I don't know, I guess family just means more to me than to her because I really didn't want to let Beth go.

I was in a funk for a long time after that but I had to let it go because Regionals was coming up and after what happened at Sectionals, everybody had to be on top of their shit if we were gonna beat those Vocal Adrenaline punks. I never thought the day of Regionals would have been such a turning point in my life. Quinn must have danced a little too hard and pulled something because she went into labor not five minutes after we got done performing. We all rushed to the hospital and I was so excited to finally meet my little girl even though I wouldn't be able to raise her. When Quinn asked for Mercedes to come in with us, I admittedly was a little pissed about it since she had ruined my plans, repeatedly. Nobody fucks with my family. Period.

All of that animosity seemed to fade away when I first saw Beth. I couldn't believe I'd had a hand in creating something so beautiful and precious. I mean Beth looks just like Quinn, like she made some sort of complete clone of herself and I had nothing to do with it. I hated that we all had to rush back to the competition to hear the results. It was cutting into what little time I had with Beth. We didn't win which wasn't a shock to me because Sue Sylvester was one of the judges and I'm sure she poisoned their minds into hating us. Or maybe Vocal Adrenaline was just that good. I heard they did Bohemian Rhapsody which is one of my all-time favorites. Honestly, if I were a judge, I probably would've given it to them just for singing that song alone. The New Directions should totally do a Queen medley. I gotta remember to tell Schue that the next time I see him.

Anyways, after we lost, I rushed back to the hospital to catch the last few glimpses of my baby girl before she got lost in the system. When I made it to the nursery I found Quinn standing there. Apparently she had the same idea and wanted to make the best of her time with Beth as well. I told her we lost and she just nodded her head once in response. I tried one last time to get her to keep our baby girl but it was a no go. She asked me if I wanted her but she already knew the answer to that so I didn't say anything. And then she asked me if I loved her. I told her yes because a part of me did love her, but only for bringing Beth into the world. The rest of her I could do without.

Right in the middle of our moment, the coach for Vocal Adrenaline, Ms. Corcoran showed up. I figured that Rachel must have told her about the birth. She started talking about second chances and family and everything she's missed out on in the last few years. All I could think of was that this lady was either an angel or a demon; an angel for wanting to take my Beth and raise her as her own instead of Beth going into Child Services to be raised in the complete hell that is the foster care system. And a demon for wanting to take my Beth and raise her as her own instead of being with her own flesh and blood, which I knew wasn't an option at the time but that didn't mean I still couldn't resent her a little bit. In the end, Quinn and I signed those papers and Beth would forever be in the care of Rachel's mom. I prayed to God Beth wouldn't turn out like Rachel because I truly believe that that gene pool is tainted. Quinn told me I had nothing to worry about because Rachel's case probably had more to do with nurture vs. nature since Ms. Corcoran just recently showed up in her life.

* * *

That summer, I filled my days with cleaning as many pools as possible. Since there wasn't that much business in Lima, I expanded to the surrounding counties and that awarded me so many more clients. I was raking in so much green; the only problem was I didn't have anybody to spend it on. Finn and I were still on the outs from the whole Babygate situation and I wasn't really that close with any of the guys on the football team so I didn't really hang out with anyone. No, that's a lie, Santana and Brittany and I hung out a few times but the chemistry between those two is kind of off-putting. Plus there were times when I felt like a third wheel. They even have their own language that they called Pig Latin which I thought was weird since Brittany has that fat cat, I thought they would've called it Cat Latin. Or maybe since that cat was as fat as a pig they named it that. I gotta stop, if I think about it too hard, I get a headache so I'll just leave it alone.

I must have been seriously bummed because although Santana and I have been getting it in on a regular basis, she kindly offered for all of us to have another threesome. And I believe I must've been on some other shit because I said no and that I needed to head home to catch some sleep for an early pool cleaning appointment the next day out of town. For some reason I was feeling really prideful that day and I didn't appreciate her offering a threesome out of pity for me. If chicks wanna ride my dick they should do it because I'm just that damn sexilicious and not because they feel sorry for me, damnit!

So for the last month and a half of the summer, all I did was clean pools seduce MILFs and get high and not exactly in that order. They say you should never smoke or drink by yourself, well I say Fuck It! Those nights when my mom had to work graveyard (she ended up drawing the work schedule short straw and got stuck with rotating shifts at the hospital) I would go through my secret stash, turn on some stoner music (anything by Lil Wayne) and be dead to the world for the next 8 hours or so.

* * *

When school started back up, I wouldn't actually say I was excited but I was anxious to get out of the cycle I was in. Or maybe I was just anxious to see some people (someone). So when I finally saw a flash of purple out of the corner of my eye, I instantly knew who it was. I didn't want her to see me so I ducked my head into my locker and observed her on the sly. She hadn't changed much over the summer. She smiled a lot more, something or somebody was making her happy. I didn't have much time to think about it because a huge, puffy, brown, Jew-fro was making its way over to me. Jacob Ben Israel shoved a microphone in my face and asked me if it was true that I was depressed all summer because I wasn't over Quinn. I immediately got pissed and shoved that camera out of my face. I really _like_ the nerve of some people who automatically think they know something about you based on nothing more than speculation and hearsay. If the dumb fuck took the time to think a little harder, he would know that I was trying to get over the loss of Beth, not Quinn. I had just spent the whole summer trying to drink, fuck and smoke away every brain cell in me just to get that situation out of my head.

When glee finally rolled around, I sat on the front row and Quinn sat two seats down from me. I could've cared less where she sat. She could've been right next to me and I still wouldn't have paid her any attention. Mr. Schue started talking about how we needed more singers since Matt transferred out. Then Rachel got up and threw in her two cents in agreement with what Schue said and Finn had bring his whipped (although I don't know why because she's as frigid as a snowman) giant ass down there to agree with her. All of this was completely unnecessary because we needed a twelfth member since Matt was gone, end of discussion. So I pretty much just tuned out the rest of that conversation until I heard the words New York and Jay Z, I was all for recruiting then.

We decided to sing in the courtyard Thursday morning before classes and we all had our New York City shirts on looking pimped out. Well as pimped out as a group of Midwestern glee clubbers could look. Finn and Rachel didn't look hood at all; he's too white bread and she's too frumpy to pull it off. Surprisingly though, Kurt as flaming and uptight as he is, blended in pretty well, he could be a homey. And then there was hot mama, who was basically wearing the same thing I was but her smooth curves and her soft, satiny voice had me sneaking peeks at her throughout our entrance at the courtyard steps. We looked good together…

After putting on that performance in the courtyard, it was no surprise to me that we didn't have that many people interested. Finn latched on to some new guy with huge lips and a Beiber cut. Is it me or does Justin Beiber look like a lesbo with a funky haircut; that dude needs some facial hair like right now. Finn invited the new kid, Sam, to hang out with us in the choir room to see what he had to offer. I wanted to see if this dude was cool so I asked him how many tennis balls he could fit in his mouth. He turned that shit right back around on me, which is something I would've done, so I figured he was cool enough. We jammed out to Billionaire and I swear that's the most fun I've had in a long time. That's what I like about glee, I can jam out with a few friends and forget all the shit that's going on in my life.

Little did we know Rachel had found some Philipino girl with a killer voice who was interested in auditioning. It figures that the only people who would actually want to join glee club are foreigners. Well Rachel, being the insecure little girl that she is, decided that it would be a good idea to send the poor girl to a crack house instead of the choir room where auditions were being held. That was a shitty move coming from a team co-captain. She tried to redeem herself by inviting the girl to an audition in the auditorium. All of the glee club filed in there to see what all the hoop-lah was about and in walked this pint-sized diva who had some serious pipes. You know you're good when you get Artie and Mercedes waving their church hands and everything. Everybody was so jazzed about the newest member, well everybody but Rachel. But she didn't really matter because we could always out vote her if we needed to. It looked like we were in the clear until that Goolsby guy, the new coach of Vocal Adrenaline, scooped her up.

So it was of no surprise that once everyone found out what had happened, they were ready to draw blood. And the first one to get to Rachel was Mercedes. It was the end of the day and the halls had basically cleared out. I was on my way to football practice when I turned the corner and saw them. I backed up and placed my back to the wall before they could see me so I could hear the verbal lashing that Mercedes was notorious for that I knew Rachel was about to receive. And hot mama did not disappoint.

"Rachel! Just the girl I was looking for!" she exclaimed happily.

"Mercedes," Rachel began apprehensively, "what can I do for you?"

"Well, I just heard that Sunshine Corazon has deflected to Vocal Adrenaline. And I just wanted to know if you knew why she so willingly ditched us?" Mercedes goaded while maintaining the sugary sweetness of her voice.

"No, I-I have no idea," Rachel lamely responded.

"Oh really? Okay, I'll give you a hint; it had nothing to do with the condo and the green card they promised her mother," Mercedes supplied hoping that she would take the bait. She didn't.

"Okay, well since you're drawing a blank, let's see if we can figure this out then. Could it possibly have something to do with a crack house?" Mercedes paused for a moment then continued.

"Could it be that because of your insecurities of your obviously inferior talent compared to hers that you sacrificed the well being of the glee club to suit your needs? To stroke your own ego? To keep you greedy little claws clutched onto 'your' spotlight?" I assume Rachel tried to defend herself in that moment because Mercedes continued with: "Oh no, I'm not finished yet. I'm just getting started bitch." Rachel gasped out loud at that, hell I did too. My eyes widened and I put my fist to my mouth to hide my chuckling. This was too good!

"That's right. I just called you a bitch. Do you know why I called you that? Because the word awful has already been used twice this week and its too good for you right now. I didn't think horrible would do either. Maybe despicable, but I wanted something with a little bite to it." At this point, I was full on grinning like a Cheshire cat. I couldn't believe what I was hearing. I didn't know Mercedes was this badass! I mean she was laying it on thick and I was getting a bit turned on imagining the look on her face and the stance of her body as she chewed Rachel out. I wondered if she had her hand on her hip with it poked out to the side.

I heard sniffles and whimpering and I knew Rachel was crying. Usually I hate to hear or see girls cry but I was really pissed at Rachel too. Mercedes started in on her again.

"Do you know what she said on her way out of here? She said that she didn't trust you enough **not** to make her life a living hell. When she said that I thought to myself 'if Rachel can do something like this to a perfect stranger that she feels threatened by, what could she do to one of her friends. Or maybe her boyfriend, could she do something like that to him too?'" Mercedes made a valid point there.

"No! (sniffle) I could never do that to any of you. I did it for…" Mercedes chose that moment to interrupt her.

"If you try to shovel that bullshit about looking out for the little people in glee club one more time…besides I didn't tell you it was your turn to speak now did I," she finished in an eerily calm voice. "The fact of the matter is that you hurt us Rachel. The glee club is hanging by a thread. Every day, Sue Sylvester tries something to get rid of us. Principal Figgins is always giving us ultimatums that we have to jump through hoops to achieve or we will be cut. And then you come at us with some shit like this. God, you are the worst leader ever!"

"You would step on anyone to get to where you want to be, to reach your dreams. What about my dreams, or Kurt's, or Finn's, or hell even Puck's. You don't care because we're not you. And do you know what the sad thing about it is; I truly believe that one day you will reach your dream. You will grace the stage on Broadway. You have enough drive and determination to become the president if you wanted to. So why does everything have to be about you all the time. Why do **you** have to have high school **and** college **and** Broadway? There are eleven steady members of this glee club who all have something great to contribute but you act like we're **your** backup singers and dancers," Mercedes paused and I heard sniffling again but it wasn't Rachel this time.

"No, don't touch me, I'm fine. Just let me finish…As of this day, you will only be considered as an acquaintance to me. I thought I could look past your many faults and possibly be friends with you but you've proven yourself untrustworthy. I just want you to remember this one thing...when you get done stepping over all the little people to get to where you want to be, it's gonna be real lonely at the top," she said and I heard her coming my way. I looked around for a place to hide and saw none. She was going to be here any second so I just stepped from the wall to the middle of the hallway. When I saw her she had tear tracks running down her face. She looked so broken.

"Mercedes," I said while holding out my arms to her.

"Puck," she sobbed and fell into the embrace.

I led her down the hall to the girl's bathroom and once inside we just stood there holding each other for a while. She felt so good in my arms, so soft and sweet but not entirely delicate. She calmed down after a while.

"You wanna talk about it?" I asked cautiously. That usually helps when my kid sister Leah is upset about something.

"It's just; I'm so disappointed in her. I thought…I thought too much of her apparently. And I can't believe I just called her a bitch. That's one of the worst things to call a girl. God, I'm disappointed in myself too," she replied while looking up at me all teary eyed.

I reluctantly pulled away from her and went to grab a paper towel from the dispenser so she could clean up her face.

"You wanna know what I think about it?" I asked, hoping she would take the bait so I could make her feel better.

She nodded her head as she patted her face with the towel I gave her.

"That was so fucking awesome!" She let out a chuckle at my exclamation. "I mean it you really gave it to her straight. And you were right, you were **so** right. What she did was foul. She is everything you said and more but I think you did her a favor because now she really has to think about it all. If Finn had gotten to her first, he would've just placated her and given her the easy way out. You did nothing wrong."

She nodded her head and walked to the sink to wash her face. I walked back to the paper towel dispenser to have one ready for her when she was finished. As she was bent over the sink, I couldn't help but check out the curve of the dip in her spine as it led up to the peak of the plump cheeks of her ass. My mind started wandering and brought up images of ocean waves rolling in with the tide, then I thought about the twists and turns of a rollercoaster. I fuckin' love riding rollercoasters. I'd like to ride her rollercoaster I thought with a smirk. I totally spaced out as I was waiting for her to finish. I then remembered that I was super late for practice but I really didn't want to leave her until I knew that she was okay.

"Shouldn't you be at practice now?" she asked while moving from the sink to grab the paper towel from me. Did she just read my mind?

"Yeah, you're okay though, right?" I asked. She nodded a yes to me. Her face was a little less puffy but her eyes were still red from crying.

"Um…okay then, I'll see you around," I said awkwardly and started to leave.

"Puck," I turned around, hand on the door handle when she called for me. "Thank you."

I gave her a quick nod and a smile and headed to football practice. When I got there Coach Beiste was pissed and made me do 15 suicide drills. It was totally worth it though.

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**So, what did you think about it all?**

**What did you think about the Mercedes/Rachel altercation?**

**I rewatched the episode Audition of season 2 and seeing Mercedes face as Sunshine left for Vocal Adrenaline brought back memories of the first time I saw that episode on tv way back when. I remember after seeing her and Kurt standing there looking pissed I thought for sure that she was gonna chew Rachel out after that commercial break. But lo and behold and to my utter disappointment they get Finn to do damage control and smooth things over with a kiss so that the audience can fall back in love with Rachel "the underdog with big dreams." I should have known then and there that I was gonna be let down greatly as the show progressed. **

**I've disliked that chick ever since then. But, I'll be honest with you, I didn't want this to be a Rachel bashing. I wanted it to be a "Rachel got her ass handed to her and now she has to re-evaluate things and learn and grow from her mistakes so that she can be a better person" kind of thing. And if you catch it, I show that even though Rachel is nuttier than a snickers bar, she still has a heart. But honestly, if I knew someone like Rachel, I would not want to be friends with her. That's why Mercedes demoted Rachel to acquaintance, she had to keep her at arms length. **

**Until next time.**


	3. Sweet Dreams are Made of Sugar

**Author's note: **

**Thanks for all the lovely reviews. **

**Warning: This chapter contains strong sexual content and is not suited for young audiences. Reader discretion is advised.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own GLEE or anything else (tv shows, movies, songs, products, etc.) mentioned in this fic. I'm just borrowing them all for a bit of fun.**

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Chapter 3

Puck 

I knew this was a dream. It was too good to be real. Even though I was unconscious, I was sending myself smoke signals not to wake up until this shit played all the way out. I was in heaven or something like it. Being Jewish and all, I'm not really supposed to believe in heaven or hell, but I have to admit that I do like the idea of it. This heaven was different than the ones they usually show on TV. It must have been my own personal brand of heaven or something. I was in a large hotel suite and there were pink fluffy clouds floating all over the place and covering the walls. They looked like cotton candy so I stepped up to one of the floating puffs and grabbed a piece of it and tasted it. Sure enough, it was cotton candy and my favorite flavor too. I was enjoying the candy licking the sweetness off of my fingers when I heard someone clear their throat from across the room. I don't know how I missed it but there was a huge, circular bed in the middle of the room with bedding the same light pink color of the cotton candy clouds. She was in the middle of the bed sitting back on her haunches. She moved her left hand and placed it on the bed in front of her and leaned over. She wore a light pink spaghetti strapped lace trimmed teddy that ended just before hitting her knees. The cleavage she had on display was making my heart beat faster and the effect of the light color contrasting with her milk chocolate hued skin tone was not lost on me. Her hair was a huge mass of teased, loose, black curls that stopped in the middle of her back. The look on her face was pure seduction. She only wore makeup on her eyes which were done all smoky looking and her lip gloss, the color of salmon, made her lips look so succulent and kissable soft. She was holding something in her right hand off to the side of her that I couldn't quite make out. As if she were reading my mind, she brought the object in front of her to reveal a watermelon flavored super sized Blow Pop still fresh in its wrapper. She ripped off the wrapper and examined her treat. It was red and bulbous, which I'm sure looked very much like the tip of my cock right now. She lifted the sucker to her lips, opened her mouth and took a tentative lick of it. She closed her eyes and hummed in appreciation, reveling in the flavor exploding on her taste buds. That first lick seemed to ignite a hunger in her because she attacked the sucker ravenously. She was swiping her whole tongue all over that thing. I'd never been more jealous of a piece of candy in my life. She grew tired of just licking and finally opened her mouth wide, and slowly inserted the whole thing in her mouth with an appreciative moan once her lips closed over it. Fuck…Me. She began to slowly pull the sucker out of her mouth then push it back in. I could tell she was really enjoying herself as the speed at which the lollipop entered and exited her mouth increased.

I was feeling some serious discomfort in my pants and looked down to see them tented. It was then that I noticed I was dressed in charcoal grey slacks with a royal blue long sleeved button down dress shirt. I must've blinked or something because she was now down in front of me in the same position she was when I first saw her on the bed. In a flash, my belt was loosened, pants unbuttoned, and my fly was down. She gave them a gentle tug and they fell off of my hips and landed at my feet with a light clang of the belt buckle as it hit the carpeted floor. Her hands reached up to unbutton my shirt revealing the white tank underneath. When she reached the top, she pushed the sides of my shirt over my shoulders but didn't release the cuffs so it hung loose around my arms. I caught a whiff of her scent as she stood in front of me, she smelled sweet and spicy like cinnamon and vanilla.

She looked me up and down and I knew I was a sight for sore eyes. There I stood, my pants pooled around my ankles, my shirt hanging around my arms and in my navy blue boxer briefs, my barely contained blood engorged erection tenting out in front of me. This was the hardest I'd ever been in my life. She looked deep into my eyes and rewarded me with a mischievous smirk. As much as I wanted to feel her lips wrapped around my cock, I wanted to feel her lips crushed against mine just as badly. But, like before in the blink of an eye, she flashed right back into her previous sitting position. Before I had time to wonder how she was moving so fast, she quickly grabbed the top of my briefs and carefully pulled them down so that she didn't scratch me with those pretty, pale, pink colored nails of hers. My dick bobbed out in front of her and almost hit her in the eye. She giggled at that and it twitched and released a drop of pre-cum in response. She grabbed my shaft and examined me just like she had done with the Blow Pop. Her other hand came up to cup and play with my balls, I groaned deep in my throat as the feeling washed over me. Without breaking eye contact, she stuck out her tongue and licked the tip of my dick. My eyes closed and my head dropped back in pleasure but I couldn't miss this so I lolled my head forward and our eyes connected once again. Those soft, plush, pink lips of hers enveloped the head and I had to fight the urge to close my eyes again. She began to suck slightly while her tongue laved just underneath the corona. Fuck, that's my spot. I wanted to just grab her head and fuck her deep in her hot, wet, cavernous mouth. Instead I fisted my hands by my sides to keep from hurting her. I knew she had to take her time with it. She pulled off and licked the head once again before she dove in and sucked down half of my shaft and then pulled off completely. With her hand still gripping me, she began to stroke up and down while her mouth moved to engulf one of my balls. Her tongue massaged the sack then she moved to the other one to offer it the same attention. When she was done with my twins she came back up to 'el hombre' (don't judge) and reattached her lips to the head. She lowered her head all the way down my shaft until her lips greeted her fist. She held herself there for a while just drenching me in her saliva. Then, with powerful suction, she _Hoover'_ed her way back up to the tip before plunging down once again. She repeated this several times until she built up a steady rhythm all the while simultaneously pumping the base of my shaft. This shit was feeling too good for me not to touch her. I tried to reach for her hair but as soon as my right arm moved forward, it got caught in the clutches of the shirt I was still wearing. Damn. _Fuck it_, I thought and started pulling the material of the shirt in opposite directions. She looked up and saw what I was doing when she heard the shirt ripping. With the shirt finally ripped in two, she moaned around my cock obviously turned on, the vibrations of her throat sending shockwaves rippling up and down my spine. I moaned out loud and grabbed her soft curls to help guide her. My hips started thrusting a bit when her rhythm sped up once again. I felt her moan again enjoying the feel of my cock sliding down her throat. That last moan almost did me in. I could feel the tell tale tingling in my balls signaling my impending release. I wanted to warn her but instead I reached for the other side of her head in effect trapping her leaving her no choice but to receive my load.

Suddenly without warning, she flashed back to the bed sitting in the previously vacated spot in the exact same position. It was like she had never moved. Slowly, she pulled the clean, white stem of the Blow pop from her full lips. She started chewing and I was thinking _what the hell? I was about to cum_. A second later, a small pink bubble emerged from between her lips. She continued to blow and the bubble just got bigger and bigger. I stood there mesmerized by what I was seeing. Eventually, the bubble started losing its shape and popped all over Mercedes' face and hair.

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**LOL, I've got something to tell you. Lean in close, closer...closer...okay. (Cups both hands to your ear so that no one else can hear). I actually dreamed Puck's dream. No seriously, I did. I was having trouble starting this chapter and trying to decide how I could portray Puck in juvie without it being corny and lame. Well I had a sweet snack, some cream filled sandwich cookies (non-name brand, I'm not sorry I'm cheap). Well the sugar got to me and I fell into a mini sugar-induced coma. From that mini coma you now have your Puckcedes inspired dream smut word for word in vivid and explicit detail. Or maybe the comment about cookies and candy was stuck in my subconscious (Thanks Brina ;) ). Ah, the power of sugar and artificial ingredients! And the funny thing about it is, I can see this dream sprinkling the seeds of something in the future when...well you'll see. Dreams are a hellova thing aren't they? Next chapter Puck's in juvie and it picks up right were the dream left off. Thanks for reading and dont forget to leave a comment on your way out. **

**Translations:**

**el hombre - the man**


	4. The Daily Woes of a Juvenile Delinquent

**Author's note: I have no idea what goes on in a juvenile dentention center, so to say I just made some shit up would be a major understatement. I just figured I would take the logical more plausible approach and hopefully, with fingers crossed, readers would understand it. Anyways, I tried to explain the reason why Puck stole that damn ATM machine. You'd think he would've seen the movie _Barbershop_ and known that to even attempt to steal an ATM from a convenience store is a major FAIL. LOL, that movie was funny. But anyways, on to the good stuff. FYI, this chapter starts out pretty dark but it gets better as it progresses**

**Warning: This chapter references situations of domestic violence and also contains homophobic language and is not suited for young audiences. Reader discretion is advised.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own GLEE or anything else (tv shows, movies, songs, products, etc.) mentioned in this fic. I'm just borrowing them all for a bit of fun.**

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Chapter 4

Puck

At the sound of the 'pop,' my eyes fluttered open to reveal the large rectangular fluorescent light situated above my bed. Damn. I've had numerous dreams about her since I've been in here but that one was by far the naughtiest to date. Most of the time when I dream about her we're just chillin' watching TV or riding in my truck singing along with the songs playing on the radio, nothing that could even remotely compare to what I just dreamed has ever happened. I'm just glad I didn't nut in my boxers and sweats. I had to will this erection down some kinda way before I got up to empty my bladder. I just started thinking about all the shitty things that have ever happened to me up until this point: Quinn calling me a loser, watching Ms. Corcoran's back as she left the hospital with Beth in her arms forever lost to me, the red, blotchy handprint left on the side of my mother's face after my dad slapped her and called her a 'stupid fucking cunt.' Finally flaccid, I hopped off of the top bunk and made my way to the toilet in the corner of the cell. After handling my business, I washed up and brushed my teeth at the little sink next to the toilet. I did all this while being watched by Carlos, my cell mate. That dude gave me the creeps so I never spoke to him. I checked the clock on the wall for the time. We had five minutes until we had to hit the showers. I dreaded shower time as it was the worst part of my day because unlike McKinley's locker room showers with the partition in between stalls, the showers here were in one large room with shower heads strategically placed only a few feet apart. And these sissy-fied mother fuckers actually had the nerve to sneak glances at me while I showered. I'm talking about some of the hardest teenage criminals in Lima craning their fucking necks to get a look at **my** junk. What the fuck! That's why my showers never last any longer than a minute. I tried to shake off the nauseous feelings after showering as I dressed so I could be ready for breakfast.

I heard they were serving waffles today and I was so excited. With my plate piled with waffles, scrambled eggs and a fruit cup, I made my way over to an empty table in the farthest corner of the cafeteria. I opened the milk carton and took a sip then grabbed the syrup container and poured it all over the delicious looking waffles. The image of the waffles brought back a memory of when Finn and I were younger. We used to have waffles at his house on Saturday mornings before we went out looking for something to get in to. Afterwards, we would waste the whole weekend running around the neighbor hood tormenting the girls we liked, playing sports with the guys, and wreaking havoc on the neighbors' gardens.

I was still in nostalgia mode when out of the corner of my eye I saw two dudes walk by my table. They were about the size of Azimio and Karofsky only bigger, it looked like they took twice the amount of steroids those two would. One of the guys was clumsy and tripped over his untied shoelace. He fell to the ground and his plate went flying a few feet away in front of him. "Damn!" he exclaimed when he realized his breakfast was now trash. His friend just stood there snickering. I looked into my plate and started eating the eggs so I wouldn't do the same. I guess since I was the only person on that side of the cafeteria the clumsy dude decided to say something to me even though I was trying my best to make it look like I hadn't been paying attention.

"Hey, white boy! What the fuck you looking at?" he asked me as I continued to ignore him. I didn't say anything and started eating the fruit cup so that I could save the best, my waffles, for last.

"I sa-aid, what the fuck are you looking at?" he tried again. I saw now that I was gonna have to shut this fool down.

"I'm looking at my damn plate. The fuck is your problem anyway?" I replied with as much bravado as I could muster.

"Oh, so the white boy thinks he's got some balls, huh?" he added talking to no one in particular. "I'ma show this mother fucker something. Gimme them goddamn waffles bitch," he snarled angrily as he snatched the waffles off of my plate and started eating them while standing in front of me looking right in my fucking face. It took everything in me to just grab my plate, toss it in the trash and walk out of there without showing him the real reason why they call me Puckasaurus. I stomped down the hall and went into the men's restroom to splash some water on my face and the back of my neck so I could calm down. That was one of the techniques I had learned in one of the court ordered anger management classes I had to go to. I was ready to punch a hole in that dude's face but I knew if I even so much as laid a finger on anybody in here, more time would be added to my sentence and I only had 16 days left. The judge said that he wouldn't have added the anger management classes since it was a first time offense but he just couldn't ignore the fact that while being cuffed, I head butted the arresting officer with the back of my head. It was an accident. No, seriously, it was. There was this crazy fly trying to attack my face so I swerved my head to avoid it but I took out the officer instead. I tried to apologize to the man but he wasn't hearing it.

This day was not starting out so good, which was typical because I can count the number of good days I've had here on one hand. The first day was the worst and the phone call I received from my mother made it even more so. I stared at my reflection in the mirror as pieces of that conversation floated back to me.

_You're such a schmuck Noah! You should've **known** I would find another job. I'm a nurse for fuck's sake. I can get hired at the fuckin' chicken plant if I need to! And we aren't even that hard up on money. I still had enough saved up for the winter. What was running through your mind, huh? Why would you do something so stupid? Now you're gone for thirty days and I have to find a babysitter on short notice to watch Leah since I don't get off until 11. I swear sometimes you're just too much like your father for your own good._

Because of that last statement she made, I haven't really spoken to her since then. She called a couple of times after that but I always made up excuses to end the conversation early. Leah, on the other hand, has called here everyday at 4:30 to make sure I'm okay. She didn't even know it but her phone call was the highlight of my day. But that was hours away from now I realized as I glanced at the clock on the wall. I only had 3 minutes to make it to study hall. I ran some more cold water over my face and wiped it off with a paper towel. I exited the rest room and headed towards the classroom section of the facility. In study hall they didn't have actual teachers but there were a few tutors on staff that had knowledge of every subject. The teachers at our schools would email our class work to the tutors and we would complete it with their help if needed. They would then scan and email the completed work back to the teachers.

I finally made my way there and without a moment to spare because the bell rang as soon as I stepped in the room. I made it a point to be on time. They would add days onto your sentence for even the slightest hiccup. I sat in my assigned seat and grabbed the book I needed from the rack under the seat. The tutor called roll while passing out the assignments simultaneously. I got to work knowing that if I kept busy time would go by that much quicker. A few minutes before the bell rang for lunch I had finished all of my work and even doodled on some of the assignments so the teachers would have no problems remembering the Puckmeister.

Lunch was uneventful. I was so glad that another repeat from breakfast didn't happen. And since all my class work for the day was done, I had free range of the facilities. I could watch a program in the TV room or head to the library and surf the web, or step outside and shoot some hoops. I didn't feel like socializing so basketball was out. The internet was restricted so I couldn't look at porn, the library was a no go. I decided my best bet was to hang out in the TV room for a while. I walked in and took a seat on the sofa. An episode of _The Maury Show_ was on and as usual he was testing D.N.A. to find out who was the baby's daddy. I instantly thought of Beth and searched for the remote to find something better to watch. Daytime TV sucks ass! I flipped through all the channels and settled on a rerun of _The Mighty Morphing Power Rangers_. If I were at home on a day like this, I would be high and this TV show would be extremely interesting. Damn I miss weed. I must've dozed off because the next thing I know I hear my name being called over the intercom informing me that I have a call on line three. I checked for the time and sure enough it was 4:30. I rushed down the hall towards the entrance of the facility to the front desk of the clerk where the phone sat with the red light blinking indicating a call was waiting on the line. I grabbed the phone and sat in a seat furthest away from the desk as far as the phone's cord would allow it to stretch. I lifted the receiver to my ear and heard Leah's laughter mixing in with someone else's in the background.

"Hello" I said into the receiver.

"Noah!" she screeched into my ear, I had to hold the phone away or risk permanent hearing loss.

"Leah Bear! How was school today?" I asked imitating her excitement.

"It was okay, nothing special happened. Well no, after lunch Trina sneeze/farted at the same time and the whole class laughed at her. I even saw Mrs. Dewberry snickering on the sly before she told everyone to calm down. How's your day going bro-ham?" She asked after giggling at the memory of her classmate's humiliation.

"It's going good. What's going on over there, I heard someone laughing with you when I picked up the phone," I answered and quickly changed the subject to stop lying to her.

"Oh, mom got me a new babysitter. She's named after a car. What's your name? Lexus? Nissan? Mariner? Ahh!" she screamed as she ducked from the pillow being thrown at her.

I felt this heavy pull in my ribcage as I instantly knew who she was talking about. I wondered how she could be there, in my house, babysitting my sister.

"Girl, stop acting all brand new. You know my name and no I'm not named after a car. I'm named after a nurse my mom met at the hospital when she gave birth to me. Besides, the guy who made that car named it after his daughter. So there," I heard her say in the background. I heard the thud of another pillow being tossed at my sister.

"Okay, Okay, I give! You're not named after a Benz. Jeez! Just so you know that counts as child abuse," my sister said conceding defeat. I swear she is gonna try to be a comedienne when she grows up.

"Leah...Leah" I tried to get her attention. They were still engaged in their pillow fight.

"Yeah, bruh-man?" she responded. She's been watching way too many damn reruns of _Martin_ and _The Jamie Foxx Show_. God forbid if she ever catch any _Wayans Brothers_ episodes. I gotta find a way to nip that shit in the bud.

"Leah, put Mercedes on the phone," I told her instead of scolding her for those nicknames she was throwing at me.

"Noah said he wants to speak to you," Leah said. Smooth, real smooth Leah thanks a lot.

I heard sounds of the phone being exchanged and then the sweetness of her voice hit me. This most definitely was not a dream.

"Hello? Puck?" she asked.

"Yeah, I'm here," I said while butterflies danced around in my stomach. A few moments passed and I forgot what I was gonna say to her.

"Hey, what did you want with speak to me about?" she questioned.

"Umm…yeah, right. Yeah, I just wanted to see how you're doing. And how everything's going in glee," I said flustering over my words. Damnit Puckzilla, what's wrong with you?

"I'm good. Glee is going well. We had a duet competition and Sam and Quinn won even though I know the true winners were me and Santana 'cause we killed it that River Deep, Mountain High. And we did a production of _The Rocky Horror Picture Show_ in which I played Frank-N-Furter. Well, we didn't actually have an audience…" she just kept on talking but I was lost in thoughts of fishnet stockings with garters and a corset molded to her torso.

"Puck, Puck? Are you there?" I heard her ask breaking through my daydream.

"Yeah…I'm…uh. Oh, I wanted to know how you got to be Leah's babysitter," I stated finally remembering what it was that I wanted to know.

"Oh, well I heard you got sent to juvie and sometime later I called your house to check on you mom and see if she needed anything. She told me she needed a babysitter because she was starting a new job and wouldn't be able to be here for Leah after school. At first Brittany was babysitting but your mom didn't like the fact that Britts would bring Lord Tubbington over with her 'cause she's got real bad allergies and whatnot. So apparently it was perfect timing when I called 'cause needed me right then and here I am," she explained.

"Um, Puck?" she asked after a brief moment of silence. I was just trying to process everything she said plus, I was still sort of lost in thoughts of that corset.

"Yeah" I responded.

"How are you doing?" she asked genuinely. I could tell that she really wanted to hear the truth, not just what people usually say to that question.

I sighed deeply and hung my head before answering, "Honestly, not so good."

It took a moment before she said, "Stay strong, Puck. It's almost over."

I closed my eyes and nodded my head before saying, "Thank you, Mercedes. Can I speak to Leah again?"

"Sure, hold on a sec. Leah! Puck wants to talk to you again," she said as she put the phone down to find Leah.

My phone time was running out. The receptionist knocked on the wall to catch my attention and started making the hand motions for me to wrap it up when Leah picked up again. "Bro man, wassup?" she started but I wasn't going to let it slide this time.

"Leah, what have I told you about calling me that? You are not Jamie Foxx or Martin Lawrence. You can't just call me whatever you like. I'm your big brother, show me some respect," I told her.

"But Noah, when I call you bro-ham or bruh-man or b-dizzle its 'cause I love you. I just want you to know that you are my ninja for life!" she argued in defense of her silly nicknames.

"Look Leah, I don't have much time but just promise to call me Noah from now on. If you love me like you say you do will you do that for me?" I asked hoping that I had settled this for good.

"Yeah, sure br…Noah. I can do that. I miss and love you," she said sadly.

"I miss you too Leah-Beah. Do me a favor and be good for Mercedes. Do whatever she tells you to do. And don't try to trick her into letting you stay up too late like I'm sure you did to Brittany. It's a school night, you need your rest," I told her.

"Okay…Noah," she responded with a slight yawn.

"Uh-huh, see that, go to bed early tonight. Tell Mercedes goodnight for me. I'll talk to you tomorrow, Le-Be," I said. I heard her tell Mercedes that I said goodnight. Then she came back on the line and said "Bye" and we disconnected the call.

* * *

Later on that evening as I entered the cell, I walked over to my calendar and marked out today's date. Two more weeks and a day and I'd be outta here. I hopped up into the top bunk and lay down over the covers. I didn't usually get a good night's rest in here because I couldn't sleep the way I usually do at home in just my boxer briefs. So I hoped that I would do the one thing that allows me feel well rested when I wake up in the morning: see Mercedes' face in my dreams. Seeing her was the only thing that kept me from fucking everything up in here. And talking to her today was absolutely glorious. I still can't believe my luck that she now has another connection to me, my family.

"Lights Out!" I heard one of the guards yell from down the hall. A minute later and we were all shrouded in darkness.

My eyes eventually closed and I drifted off into a peaceful slumber with one single phrase on repeat in my head: _Stay strong Puck. It's almost over._

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**So what do you all think about it? How'd you like Leah? Isn't she cute. I just started writing her and she came out silly. I love silly, goofy kids. I guess she gets to be the happy, hopeful one of the family because she was too young to remember all the abuse her mother endured and Puck protects her innocence like a pitbull with a bone. In my eyes, she's about 10 years old and in the 5th grade. Her nickname Leah-Beah is short for her first and middle names Leah Beatrice. Not cute, I know, but the middle name is a family name. **

**Shoutouts:**

**1.**

**Brina! Okay, so to answer your question I probably will do some more Puckcedes fics in the future but for the time being, these two have held my brain hostage and I can only focus on them. To explain better, picture this:**

**We're all in Mercedes bedroom. She's sitting on her bed texting Kurt, or Santana, or Tina or whoever. I'm sitting at her desk typing on her laptop and Puck is standing behind me looking over my shoulder at the screen with his arms crossed in front his chest. I turn back looking at Mercedes and ask her "You got something to say, any input whatsoever?"**

**She says, "Naw, you go on ahead. It's really his story. Besides, he would tell it so much better. I'll just add something when I think it's important." She starts flicking her wrist at me in a dismissive way. **

**"O-kay" I sing song and turn back around to review what I've written.**

**Then he starts with, "Get to typing! And make it sound good like I'm smart and sensitive with an edge and shit."**

**And I come back with, "Boy get outta my face and go over there to your woman! I got this, you handle yours. Thank you!"**

**So he goes over to the bed like an obedient little puppy and wraps his arms around Mercedes and snuggles his nose in the crook of her neck.**

**I'm just sitting there watching them as she giggles at his antics thinking 'ugh, these two are so fucking cute its sickening' as I roll my eyes and turn back to continue the story. **

**So you see, even though I don't have a gun to my head, I can't leave them alone right now. I want to eventually do a group of oneshots featuring Mercedes with guys of the glee club that you just wouldn't see her with. I really like the idea of Blainecedes, because Darren Criss is so cute! He was so hilarious dressed as "The Situation" on Halloween. But, it would take a whole lot of work to make Blaine straight though and make it believable. So I don't know. We shall see.**

**2. **

**Blackrose. Thanks so much for your comment, you really had me blushing like a Japanese school girl. It's cool that you think the dream was cute. I think that a 16 year old probably would have had a similar dream. Besides, even though I know he's playing a teenager, I can't look at Puck and not see a grown ass man. He's just too big and buff to be a 16 year old. So I really have to suspend my disbelief when I watch Glee. **


	5. Moth Balls and Bengay

**Author's note: Alright, so in the episode Never Been Kissed, Puck said that he got into a fight in juvie in which one of the guys pulled out his nipple ring. Well I liked that nipple ring so I say it stays! Oh, I borrowed some dialogue from that episode too. **

**I finally have them singing some songs. So when you get a chance (right now), skip on over to Youtube and copy and paste this into the search bar: Aretha FRANKLIN- "God Bless The Child" (1962). That's the song Mercedes sings in this chapter and it's so perfect for her voice. Love It!**

**Sorry, no Luck this chapter. They actually show up in chapter 7.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own GLEE or anything else (tv shows, movies, songs, products, etc.) mentioned in this fic. I'm just borrowing them all for a bit of fun.**

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Chapter 5

Puck

Thank HaShem for community service. With thirteen days left on my sentence, I had finally found the loophole that would get me out of juvie. At the meeting with my probation officer, I told them I had a great community service project in mind. So when I filled out the application and put "hanging with a crip" as my service option, I thought that would be the end of it. Then I went to school and approached Artie and told him the deal and he accepted. I even taught him my foolproof method to get the ladies. "You only have to be a fraction as nice to them as you are mean to them to get them to like you," I told him after we got done jamming to One Love in the courtyard. And it totally worked. We had a double date with Santana and Brittany the next evening. I tried to get him to dine and dash but he totally punked out on me. So I left him there and took Santana and Brittany to Che' Puckerman for a nightcap. I felt a little bad about it, but at the time, my hands were too full for me to fully concentrate on anything else.

So when Principal Figgins called Mr. Schue and me down to his office, I was running through all the possible reasons why I could be in trouble. When we got there and I saw my probation officer I just prayed I wasn't going back to that hell hole. She explained that helping Artie out was not legitimate service and that I had to come up with another option in a day or be sent back. In hindsight I realize that flipping out on them at that moment was not the best course of action given my current situation. I was running plans through my head on how I could run away to avoid being taken into custody when I thought about Leah and how much that would hurt her. So I decided to tell my mom the situation and see if she could offer any help. She told me that since she's been working at the nursing home she noticed a lot of volunteers there performing light cleaning duties and providing entertainment for the residents. She asked around and eventually gave me the info to sign up for service. I went to meet with my probation officer the next day and filled out the form again with the retirement home as my service activity and it was approved. I was so glad I wouldn't have to run away or worse end up working on a chain gang on the side of the highway picking up trash.

Just about the only other good thing that came from that week was the girls' version of the mash up competition. Seeing Mercedes all decked out in leather from head to toe had El Hombre waking up at random moments when I thought about her. I would always put myself in the place of that mic stand when I thought of that little move she did when she straddled it and shimmied with it in between her legs. She had no idea just how sexy she was in that moment.

When that weekend rolled around, I wasn't really looking forward to hanging out with a bunch of old folks. And, I definitely was not looking forward to cleaning up any bodily fluids. Yuck! So when I stepped into the nursing home and my nose was assaulted with the smell of moth balls and Bengay, I was mentally slapping myself for thinking this would be better than chain gang duty. The place looked clean enough after I gave it a quick once over. Although, I did see a few residents in wheelchairs scattered about the hallway in front of what I assumed were their rooms. I eventually made my way over to the front desk and after flirting with the receptionist for a while I asked her where the signup sheet for volunteers was. She saw the guitar strapped to my back and asked me if I would be providing entertainment. I told her I would and she informed me that there were two other performers there that had come in earlier. She told me to head down the corridor on the left and to make a right at the nurses' station, the recreation room would be in the middle of that hallway. As I was headed that way, I could hear a piano playing. It started out with a down tempo bluesy intro to some old school tune. When I finally made it to the door of the rec room I peeked in and saw Mercedes standing over the piano with a mic in her hand while Tina played for her. I stepped into the spacious room and noticed there wasn't an empty seat in the place and everyone had their eyes trained on her as she sang. I just stood by the door, entranced by the vision that was Sexy Mama. She wasn't even trying to look hot but the way she looked in that blue sundress was sinful. And her smile was so big and bright, I swear, it was like her face could replace the sun. I was staring so hard that for a few seconds I forgot she was even singing.

**_Them that's got shall get  
Them that's not shall lose  
For the Bible says and it still is news  
Mama may have, papa may have  
But God bless the child  
That's got his own  
That's got his own_**

_**Well, the strong gets more**_  
_**While the weak ones fade**_  
_**Empty pockets don't ever make the grade O-o-oh, no**_  
_**Mama may have, papa may have**_  
_**But God bless the child**_

**_That can stand up anywhere and say  
I've got my own_**

**_When you've got money, you've got lots of friends  
Crowding around the door  
And when that money's gone, _**

**_And all of the spending ends  
Oh, don't you know they aren't coming around anymore  
Now rich relations will give you  
Crust of bread and such_**

_**Now you can help yourself**_  
_**But don't take-don't take too much, no**_  
_**Mama may have, mmm and papa may have**_  
_**But God bless the child**_  
_**It's always the child that can say I've got my own**_  
_**O-o-oh I've got my own**_

When she finished, she got a standing ovation (from the ones that weren't in walkers and wheelchairs). I even heard a few cat calls. Tina got up from the piano and stood beside her and they both did a little bow only to receive more applause. Mercedes spotted me and poked Tina alerting her of my presence. She waved me over to them.

"Puck, what're you doing here?" she asked.

"I needed another assignment for community service and since my mom works here she suggested I signup," I responded while looking around for a seat to place near the piano.

"Oh, is your mom here today?" Tina asked.

"No, she only works weeknights," I said as I made my way over to an empty chair and placed it on the keyless side of the piano.

"You're welcome to join us although that was our last song of the set. We'll stay and help you if you have something in mind," Mercedes said while covering the mic so the audience didn't hear the conversation.

"Cool, I'm thinking of singing Only the Good Die Young. Mama, you just sit your pretty self over there and I'll take care of everything from here," I said while absentmindedly grabbing Mercedes hand and guiding her over to the seat I'd just placed down.

"Tina, do you think you can you handle the piano part for me?" I asked locking eye's with her as I made my way to the microphone.

"Yeah, I've got it," she responded.

I turned the guitar I had slung around me to my front while standing in front of the microphone. "Good afternoon, my name's Puck and I'm gonna sing Billy Joel's, Only the Good Die Young for you today," I said into the microphone.

I heard some old geezer say "Did he say his name was Duck?" and another said "What's that on his head? Does he have a squirrel tail glued up there?" as I turned my head to cue Tina in on the piano intro and began to sing after she started playing.

People started clapping and singing along with me as I sang. It was kinda cool to see these old folks in here having a good time. When I finished the song, one of the old Betty's threw her bloomers at me and they landed down by my feet. I kicked them away furiously in disgust and heard Mama's boisterous laughter from behind me. I turned around just in time to see her with her head thrown back and mouth wide open, with a hand over her chest as she settled into a laughing fit. She snorted a couple of times at the end of one hearty laugh. I couldn't help laughing along with her, she was just too cute.

Before I got too lost in the moment, I noticed someone waving at me in the corner of the room. It was my Nana Cuddy. She must have been over here visiting some friends or something. I slung my guitar over my back and walked over to her. Nana looked like an older version of my mother but with salt and pepper hair and wider hips. She wore this floral print dress that reminded me of the garden she kept at her home. We used to make meals using some of the vegetables and herbs she grew there. Before I reached her, I heard Tina speaking at the mic ending the set and telling everyone that we would be there next week.

"Come here son, give grandma a hug," she demanded while opening her arms for an embrace.

"Nana, how's it going?" I asked while hugging her.

"All is well son, and how is my little Schmooey? They didn't treat you too badly at that boys' detention school did they? I don't want to have to put them over my knee and show them who Nana is," she said stepping out of the embrace and looking me over from head to toe.

"Nah, it was okay. I basically got out early on good behavior with the promise of some community service. So, what's got you over in the 'home today?" I questioned trying to change the subject.

"I came by to see and old friend of mine, you remember Mr. Cohen from Temple?" she asked looking at me eager to hear my response.

"Which one?" I inquired clueless as to whom she was referring to. There were like four different Cohen families that went to our Temple.

"Roger's father Albert Cohen, he lives here. He's been here ever since that horrible stroke he had a few years ago. Anyways, he was an old flame of mine before I met your grandfather and we keep in touch from time to time," she explained. I nodded my head in understanding.

Mercedes chose that moment to walk over and save me from this extremely boring conversation with my Nana. "Excuse me, I'm so sorry to interrupt," she started while looking at Nana apologetically. "Puck, Tina and I are about to head out. Did you need to stay or did you have other plans?" she asked.

"Um, no, I was on my way out too. But let me introduce you, Nana this is my classmate Mercedes and Mercedes this is my Nana Cuddy," I said while turning to the respective parties. They shook hands and said their "Hello's" and "Nice to meet you's."

"Darling, I just have to tell you, you have a beautiful voice. Are you related to Aretha Franklin because you could be her musical twin," my Nana complimented Mercedes, slightly embarrassing me in the process.

Mercedes covered her mouth and giggled a bit before answering, "No ma'am, I'm not related to her but I appreciate the compliment."

"You must be in that glee club with my Schmooey here," Nana pinched my cheek for emphasis. "I bet you get all the solos with a voice like that," she added. I was completely embarrassed now. She just had to pull out the 'Schmooey' in front of Mama. I just lowered my head and became fascinated with the floor tiles praying that this conversation would end sometime soon.

Much to my chagrin, Mercedes giggled again, no doubt at my childhood nickname but sobered up and answered my Nana. "Sadly no, I hardly get any solos really. The only girl featured in our club is Rachel Berry. The rest of us just sing and dance in the background," she responded with a hint of sadness to her voice. I felt for her, I really did, especially after what I just heard her do a little while ago.

"Yes, I know her. She goes to our Temple with her father Hiram. I've seen her at one of your competitions before. She's an okay singer I guess. A little bit on the boring side. Oh, and I hate that sad-sick baby face she makes when she's trying to emote. She doesn't have to screw her face up completely to do that! Somebody needs to teach her a thing or two about stage presence," Nana said earning a few laughs from Mama and me.

"And why does that choir director only let that tall boy sing?" Nana turned to me before saying: "Isn't that your friend Schmooey? That too tall boy? What's his name? Tinn? Jinn? He's okay but when he sings he looks like he's trying to take a poop. All struggling to hit notes and whatnot. Why won't he just let you sing? You can croon like Sam Cooke or Old Blue Eyes, Frank Sinatra. Why won't he put the both of you together? I'm sure you two would some beautiful music together," she added eventually turning back to Mercedes as she spoke. We both just shrugged our shoulders not really knowing what to say to that. All we could really do was hope that one day Schue would use somebody other than his 'go to' singers. I thought back to the time when we sang The Lady is a Tramp and how awesome we sounded. Damn, that seemed like ages ago.

After a brief awkward silence, Mercedes excused herself and told me she would see me around at school. She caught up with Tina and they left arm in arm to go do some girly stuff or whatever it is girls do when they get together. I didn't even realize I was doing it but my eyes were following Mama as she left the room. And sure enough, Nana called me out on it.

"You like her don't you my little Schmooey?" she asked. "I can tell you _really_ like her. More than you did that little Quinn girl," she added.

There was no sense in lying to her, she already knew the truth. "Yes, I like her but it won't ever amount to anything. I don't think she'll ever see me like that Nana," I admitted finally stating out loud what I knew deep in my…gut.

"Nonsense, any girl would be lucky to have you honey," she supplied pinching my cheek and cooing over me like I was still a baby.

"Seriously Nana, I just got out of juvie and I got a girl pregnant last year. Who in their right mind would want to deal with me and all the bull crap I bring to the table. Besides, she's way too good for me. She's pure and honest and just and I'm just used goods. She could do way better than me," I said being mindful of my words so I didn't curse in front of her. I still remember the foul taste of the soap she shoved in my mouth when I was seven after I had said 'damnit' after falling from the swing set on the playground.

She wouldn't be my Nana if she didn't try to cheer me up so she told me about how she and my granddad came to be. "You know the story of your granddad about him being an immigrant from Italy and about him not being of the faith?" she asked waiting for my response. Yeah I knew this, everyone in our family did. Nana was the rebel of the family. She was the only one of 6 sisters to marry outside of the faith.

"See I should have ended up with Albert over there. He was perfect for me in every sense of the word. He's Jewish. His family owned a butcher shop and deli which meant he was financially stable. He was handsome and respectful and charming. He was everything a girl would want in a man, every girl except me. Now when I first saw your grandfather he was attractive but not in an obvious way. I got to know him and he started looking better to me," we shared a laugh at that before she continued. "He was struggling, working three odd jobs trying to support his parents and siblings. He was sharp and witty. People would try to tear him down because he was a foreigner but he had a sharp tongue and would cut them down to size and they would never speak to him again. He was a master of the English language. I would sometimes marvel at just how much he knew and how he learned in such a short time. There were so many great qualities about him that I don't really have the time to name them all. But I'll tell you this, even though we had to struggle to make ends meet and we fought hard, boy did we fight! Even though marrying him caused a rift in my family and he died young and left me to raise three kids on my own. I don't regret a single moment that I knew and loved him. In fact, I still, to this day, thank HaShem every morning for even having the memory of him to hang onto. He was the best thing that ever happened to me. He wasn't perfect, far from it, but he was mine and I was his and we loved each other. And now I have all of you to show for it. You have so many of his attributes; qualities that women would want in a mate. You just have to make goals for yourself and stop getting caught up in daily nonsense, and then you will reach your potential and become the man I know you want to be," she explained to me. I knew the story about granddad causing our family to divide because he was different but I didn't know it was that deep.

Even though she took the time to cheer me up and give me a little family history lesson, I still couldn't shake the feeling that I wasn't good enough for Mama. It's like something deep inside of me was saying "You can want her all you want but you can never really have her." I had a lot to think on so I decided to call it a day and head on home.

"Thanks Nana, for saying that. I think I'm done here so I'll just go on home and catch up on some homework or something," I said reaching my arms out to her to hug her again. I had no plans of doing any such thing.

"You should go to Temple more often. There are some nice young men there that could mentor you and teach you how to live better, they can help you Noah," she said in my ear while wrapping me tight in her arms.

"I'll think about it, I've just got a lot going on with community service and trying to keep my grades up so I can stay on the football team," I told her, just throwing out excuses so I wouldn't have to go.

She nodded her head disappointingly. Nana could always see right through me and my bullshit. But, unlike my mom, she knew when to pick her battles. That's what I loved so much about her.

"Well would it kill you to call your Nana sometime? If I hadn't run into you, I doubt I would've seen or heard from you. You've got to do better boy! Anyways, I've got to go find Albert now that everyone's cleared out of here. You be good and start thinking before you act so that you won't end up in that rotten place again, okay?" she added while clasping my hands in hers.

"Okay Nana, I'll call you and I'll do better. I don't want to go to that place again either. I love you, Nana," I said giving her hands a squeeze.

"I love you too, Schmooey. Now go on and get out of here before I pinch your cheeks raw with the cuteness," she said as she raised her hand to my cheek which I aptly dodged at the last second. I scooted around her and ended up behind her to avoid the embarrassment. She turned around with a mischievous grin on her face. I waved goodbye as I turned to exit the room.

I made my way back to the front desk of the facility and signed out of the volunteers log making sure my entrance and exit times matched those of Tina and Mercedes. I winked at the receptionist from earlier and left the building ready to head home and blaze one up in my bedroom. When I got to my truck I carefully placed the guitar down on the floor in front of the passenger seat and got in. I cranked up the engine and the hardcore guitar riffs of I'm Not Okay from My Chemical Romance came blasting through the speakers. As I sat there and bobbed my head, I couldn't help but agree with the blaring lyrics of the song.

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**Next chapter Mercedes has her say. Yes the hieffa finally decided to speak and she won't shut up (not that I mind really). Review, Alert, Favorite, PM, whatever, just say something please!**


	6. Musical Appreciation

**Author's note: In the unfortunate event that FF decides to take this story down, you can visit my Tumblr (same name, just signed up, don't know what I'm doing, link's in my profile) and find chapters posted there as well. In the meantime, I will continue to post here. **

**Anyways, on to the good stuff. This is Mercedes' chapter. She actually interrupted me when I was writing the last chapter and I'm glad she did because I LMAO'd as I typed it and you will definitely see why. :P **

**This chapter takes place sometime after the episode Furt.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own GLEE or anything else (tv shows, movies, songs, products, etc.) mentioned in this fic. I'm just borrowing them all for a bit of fun.**

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Chapter 6

Mercedes

"Leah, what do you want to do today? It's Friday so I can either help you with your homework so it can be done for the weekend or we can watch a movie or play a game. Whatever you want to do, it's your choice," I asked Leah as we walked into the Puckerman home.

I had been doing a lot of babysitting jobs lately to keep myself busy since Kurt was gone. It really hurt me that Kurt decided to leave McKinley to go to Dalton. I mean, I understood why. Well, I mean, I guess I did. He didn't really tell me much except he would feel safer in their 'Zero Tolerance,' no bullying environment. Which had me curious as to what Karofsky had done to him that would shake him so badly that he would want to run off like a scared little dog with its tail stuck between its legs. I just didn't understand why he could confide in Blaine so easily but he couldn't say one single word to me. I had to find out through glee club gossip that my brother from another mother was being bullied.

It had been about a month since I had last seen him when he had his things packed away in his 'Baby' and we all, Burt, Carole, Finn and I were giving our goodbyes and seeing him off with well wishes of safe travels and happiness and success. Since he'd been at Dalton, we kept in touch with phone calls and texts but when he was in town he had canceled on our plans three consecutive weekends in a row. I knew that he could've at least stopped by to say hello to me and my folks but no, he had brought Blaine with him so that meant they had to hang out together. I was totally used to it by now so I just brushed it off and pushed my feelings to the side to focus on school, volunteering, and babysitting.

Lately, babysitting was my favorite activity. The kids I sat with were some of the liveliest and most interesting people on this planet and Leah was no exception. I was so glad when Ms. Puckerman called me to let me know that she needed me because I hadn't sat for her since Puck came back from juvie. She told me she had to work all night that Friday and that Puck would be at an away game for that evening so she was paying me double to spend the night with Leah.

"I dunno. I may need your help on my math homework. Noah tries to help me but I swear sometimes I just don't know how he made it all the way to high school," she said with a quirk to her eyebrow.

This kid had some serious spunk to her. I couldn't help but snort at that little quip. "Leah, it's cool. I'll help you with your math work and whatever else you need me for," I said while guiding her over to the dining room table to spread her homework out on. I went into the kitchen to grab us both a granola bar and juice box to snack on while we worked. A couple hours later we were finished with the homework for all of her subjects.

"Okay, so now that that's done, what do you want to do next," I asked getting up from the table and clearing it of our trash as she put her assignments and books back into her backpack.

"Umm…Oh! We could watch my favoritest movie of all time, _My Fair Lady_!" she exclaimed while jumping up and down, clapping her hands together excitedly.

"Ok, great. I love Audrey Hepburn! She's one of my top 10 favorite actresses. And by the way, it's _most favorite_, favoritest is not a word," I lectured while turning to go to the kitchen to look for some popcorn for the movie. What, I couldn't let her think that was a word after just helping her with her English homework. What kinda babysitter would I be if I did that?

"Really? What's your favorite movie of hers?" she asked completely ignoring that I had just tried to correct her. She followed me into the kitchen and watched me search the cabinets looking for the microwave popcorn.

"Well, _My Fair Lady_, of course then _Sabrina_ and I like _Roman Holiday_ too," I replied while still searching for the popcorn.

"Cool. I've never heard of or seen _Sabrina_ before or _Roman Holiday_. Whatcha looking for?" she asked when she saw me crouched down looking in the lower cabinets beside the oven.

"Do you guys have any microwave popcorn? I can't find it for the life of me," I asked her finally giving up in my search.

She giggled then answered me with, "Yes and no. We have popcorn but you have to make it from scratch on the stove top."

I must have had an odd look on my face after she said that because she just burst out laughing at me. When she finally calmed down from her laughter, she started giving instructions on how to make stove top popcorn.

"Okay, grab that step stool for me," she said and I did as she asked. She placed it in front of the oven. She went into the cabinet next to the oven and pulled out a large pot and the top that went with it.

"In pantry next to the fridge, there is a bag of corn kernels, some popping oil and some popcorn seasonings. Grab 'em," she ordered. I did as she bid and set them on the counter next to the eye where the pot was sitting on the stove.

"Okay, now that we've got everything, we're gonna turn the eye on medium heat. Then grab the popping oil and pour it in the pot, I'll tell you when to stop pouring," I nodded my head and did so. I was really curious as to how this would all turn out. She stood on the step stool and looked over into the pot to make sure I did it all right.

I poured the oil and just as it had covered the bottom of the pot less than a half inch thick she told me to stop. "Okay, now grab one kernel, just one, from the bag and toss it into the pot and cover it," she added. I did what she said.

She stepped down from the stepping stool and went over to the fridge and grabbed two grape sodas for us to drink and set them on the counter. I was watching the kernel bubble on the inside of its shell in complete fascination when it suddenly popped and hit the top of the pot's glass top. I jumped when that happened and of course Leah saw me and started giggling at me. "Stop it," I said then plucked her lightly on her shoulder with my middle finger.

She grabbed her shoulder and cried, "Ouch! Child abuse!"

I started giggling along with her and said "Okay then, you keep on playing that card while you can. You won't be a child for long Leah, then what?" I teased and she just shook her head and rolled her eyes.

She stepped back up onto the top step of the stepping stool and reached for the overhead fan and turned it on. "Okay, now that the oil is ready we can pour the kernels in and I'll tell you when to stop," she said and she stopped me just when the kernels filled out the bottom of the pot and hit the top of the oil line. I placed the top back on the pot and we both stepped back from the stove. She went to grab the drinks and put them on coasters on the coffee table in the den and setup the movie on the DVD player. I just stood there and watched the kernels sizzle and pop. I had to admit it was really cool. I've seen it done at carnivals and movie theaters but never this up close and personal.

The speed at which the kernels popped started to increase and oily steam started to bubble out and spatter from the pot's top. "Leah!" I called out to her. She came back in the kitchen and saw me pointing at the pot. "Is it supposed to do that?" I asked.

"Oh crap, I forgot! You have to have paper towels on standby because it splatters all over the stove. Noah usually holds down the top by the handle and wipes it up as it bubbles out," she said. I turned around and pulled a couple of paper towels from the roll holder and rushed back to the stove to wipe the rim of the pot. Eventually the kernels started to rise to the top of the pot and actually start to lift the top off of the pot. Leah grabbed a big bowl from the lower cabinet on the other side of the oven and set it on the counter by the ingredients. When it stopped popping I turned off the stove then grabbed the pot by its handle and the top making sure I didn't spill any of the popped kernels suspended between the two. I emptied the pot into the bowl with only a few strays that landed in the surrounding counter space. Leah grabbed a shaker of white cheddar cheese flavoring and poured a generous amount over the popcorn in the bowl. She told me to lightly shake the bowl to make sure the flavoring reached the bottom so I did. I grabbed a handful of the treat and moaned out loud at how good it was.

"Oh my gosh! This is so good! It's almost better than tots! Almost. I won't commit blasphemy against my tots though," I said gushing over how good it was.

"You think that's good try it with just some salt and Reese's Pieces. It tastes like a party in your mouth!" she added. I laughed at her and made a mental note to try that one day. After cleaning up the stove and putting up the ingredients, we headed into the den and set the popcorn down in between the two drinks on the coffee table and sat down on the sofa ready to watch Eliza Doolittle transform from rags to riches based on a bet. "Do you mind if I sing along with the songs?" Leah asked after I pressed play on the DVD remote.

"No sweetie, go ahead, it is your favorite movie after all," I said and leaned over to grab another handful of popcorn. The movie played and we started singing along with songs we knew and throwing pieces of popcorn at each other. Watching this movie made me think of Kurt because of the musicals we used to watch whenever we had sleepovers. My mood started to sour a bit but I wasn't able to give myself too much of a pity party because about the time that Eliza Doolittle starting singing "Just You Wait", I heard the sound of keys jiggling and turned my head to see the doorknob moving. What the hell? Nobody but me was supposed to be here tonight. I noticed a bat sitting by the door and crossed the room to grab it and stood behind the door ready for the intruder to pop in so I could whack him. Eventually the door did open and someone stepped in but I couldn't get a good look at him because it was dark in the room. So I swung at the tall figure and heard a clunk then an "Owwww! What the fuck?" from whomever it was. Then the lights came on and I saw it was Puck standing there in his jersey and letterman jacket holding his football gear. He crouched over holding the back of his head then he turned and saw me and said, "The fuck you do that for?"

I was stunned. I had too much adrenaline running through me from trying to fight off an intruder to register that I had just hit Puck in the head with a baseball bat. After a while of just standing there slack jawed with my arms raised high, the bat ready to strike again at a moment's notice, Puck grabbed the bat from me which brought me out of my stupor.

"OH MY GOD! Puck! I thought you were a robber or something. I'm so sorry. I didn't know!" I exclaimed finally able to form complete thoughts again. I reached out to grab the hand he had attached to his head and pulled it away to see bruising where I had hit him. I winced at what I saw.

"Yeah I'm a robber. Since when does a robber have keys? Come on Mama!" he exclaimed clearly pissed that a small lump was now forming along the strip of hair that was his Mohawk.

"Well how was I supposed to know you would be here? You're supposed to be at an away game on the other side of the state!" I stated defending my actions.

"The opposing team forfeited when we were on our way there stating that over half of the team was sick from food poisoning. Something about bad fish they were served at lunch. We headed back as soon as Coach Beiste found out. I guess I could've called to tell you," he admitted. I cocked my head to the side and shot him a 'You think?' face at his thoughtlessness.

We both heard giggling coming from the sofa and looked up to see Leah laughing and pointing at the current predicament we were in. "Leah, go get an ice pack for your brother please," I asked her. She paused the movie and got up to do as I said. I grabbed Puck's unoccupied arm and led him over to the couch so that he wouldn't fall in case he got dizzy from me knocking him out. He shrugged out of his jacket and laid it on the back of the sofa before he sat down. I sat down next to him feeling ashamed at what I had done.

He must have sensed my discomfort because he turned to me and in a low voice he said, "Thank you…for doing what you did, trying to protect my sister and all. But, next time if there is a real robber, can you swing a little harder because you didn't even knock me unconscious and you probably would've just pissed him off if that was the case. It would have made the situation that much worse and I'd hate to have to go to a real jail because I murdered some asshole who attacked my family."

My eyes stretched wide at his admission and I sat back a little further away from him with my hands half way stretched out in front of me, palms facing him, projecting my best "Whoa!" face to him. He saw my startled expression and back peddled his words. "I-I-I mean, beat him up real bad, not **literally** kill him. You know what I mean, right?" he explained. I nodded my head. Yeah, I did understand him, but that didn't mean it wasn't scary. A few quiet moments passed between us and I sang the word "Awk-ward" to myself in my head. Leah finally came in with a homemade ice pack of a hand towel and a few cubes of ice with a rubber band wrapped around it.

"Here ya go big bro," she said as she handed him the ice pack.

"Thanks," he mumbled as he took it and placed it on his head. As he moved his hand to place the ice pack on the injury, I saw what could only be described as a fuzzy hill back there. Seeing that had made me feel even worse than before. I had to get out of there and soon. I started looking around for my backpack, purse and overnight bag and got up from the sofa when I spotted them off to the side of the door.

"You're not leaving are you Mercedes? We haven't finished watching the movie yet," Leah asked when she saw me heading towards my things.

"Um…well your brother is here now so your mom won't need me to stay the night, right Puck?" I asked him hoping he would back me up and allow me to make my escape.

"Well if you wanted to stay and finish the movie you're welcome to. Leah always enjoys this movie best when she has someone to watch it with," he said. Leah was standing next to his sitting form nodding her head excitedly in agreement.

"Plus, you have to tell me about the other Audrey Hepburn movies that you like. What was it you said about _Sabrina_ and the _Roman Candle_ movie?" she said adding fuel to the fire.

"_Roman Holiday_. And, yeah, I guess I could stay but I'm leaving before my normal curfew time. If my parents found out the game was cancelled and I didn't come home, it would be my hide on the line," I replied. I just couldn't leave Leah when she looked so hopeful like that. I reached down and grabbed some lip balm from my purse and reapplied some of it to my drying lips. I got the feeling I was being watched so I used my peripheral vision and noticed Puck staring at me from across the room. _That's weird_, I thought but shrugged it off as another odd occurrence for the night. He got up from the sofa, grabbed his jacket and crossed over the room to the entrance where he had left his football gear. He hung up his jacket on the rack by the door then grabbed his football gear and marched up the stairs heading towards his room without saying a word. Yeah, he was still pissed about that lump on his head.

I went back over to the sofa and sat down. Leah sat beside me on the middle cushion and started the movie again. We watched the movie for a little while then I heard Puck coming back down the stairs. He sat on the other end of the sofa sandwiching Leah between us. We all started to get into the movie which I thought was kinda weird. Puck isn't the type to be into musicals, he's more of a _Die Hard_ kind of a guy. Leah's body started to jump when the song "I Could Have Danced All Night" began to play. She got up from the sofa and turned to Puck.

"Come on Noah, dance with me," she demanded. Puck spared a glance at me from the corner of his eye then looked back at her and shook his head.

"Come on Noah! You always dance with me when this song comes on," she added when he didn't make a move to dance with her.

He shook his head again. She leaned down to whisper something in his ear and it must have been some serious blackmail because he suddenly jumped up, grabbed her hands and guided her into a ballroom dance position. I was shocked as hell! Not thirty minutes ago I had knocked him in the back of the head and now he was twirling his little sister around the room like she was the belle of the ball. Even through all the weirdness of the current situation, I had to admit they looked so cute together. She was standing on his toes looking up and smiling so brightly at him. After a while I could see him enjoying himself as well. The scene in front of me brought back memories of Malcolm and me playing when we were growing up. I've missed him so much since he's been away at school. Then I thought about Kurt and me dancing at Burt and Carole's wedding and how truly happy he was. I could feel my face fall as I realized that was the last real memory of ours since he left for Dalton.

"Look Noah, she's sad 'cause we left her out. Go dance with her," Leah said. She must have seriously misread the expression on my face.

I shook my head and said, "No, I was just thinking about something. It's nothing really."

Leah must have selective hearing because she insisted that Puck dance with me even though I'd already explained myself. Puck shot a questioning look over to me when she said that and I swear I saw that boy blush before he turned back to Leah. She started getting impatient at his hesitance.

"Noah, if you don't dance with her, I'll tell her all about your little cr-…" was all she got out before Puck spun her around and pushed her back into the same spot she was previously seated in. He stepped around her and came towards me with his hand extended in front of him for me to take it. I just looked at his hand and then looked at his face. Looked at his hand, and then looked at his face. This dude was serious! I turned to see Leah nodding her head at me to go ahead and dance with him.

"It's okay guys, honestly," I said hoping they would back off. _Is this The Outer Limits or something 'cause this shit is getting twisted? _

"Come on, just do it or she'll never shut up about it," Puck stated gruffly and then grabbed my hand and pulled me up with such force that I bumped into him. I almost ricocheted off of him but he caught me and held me close in his snug embrace. Crushed up against him, I was pleasantly assaulted with the masculine scent of his cologne. It was a fresh, slightly sweet and musky all at the same time. I almost swooned at the drama of it all. I started looking around the room because I just knew Forest Whitaker was lurking in a dark corner somewhere, watching as all of this nuttiness took place.

He slowly trailed one of his hands up from where they both were settled on the small of my back up the side of my ribcage, over my shoulders and down my arm until he grabbed my hand and threaded his fingers through mine. I was speechless. Okay, this was **not** the Puck I knew therefore Forest Whitaker **was** hiding in the room somewhere and I was completely caught all up and through _The Outer Limits_ because Puck was running game on me! It must have been the combination of the way I felt in his arms mixed in with the intoxicating scent of his cologne and that intense, smoldering look in his eyes but for the longest time, I didn't even realize we were waltzing around the room until Eliza Doolittle briefly stopped singing that song and then suddenly picked it back up. When the song finally did finish, we stopped dancing but Puck didn't even attempt to let me go. We just stood there holding each other lost in each other's gaze. The piercing sound of Leah's enthusiastic clapping was what brought us out of the haze we were in. We separated and both headed back to our respective seats.

As we all sat and continued watching the movie, I wrapped my arms around myself keeping as much warmth in as I could. I couldn't believe that I missed his body heat. I haven't been held like that in a long time. Sad as it may sound, I missed having Kurt to lean on. I had to admit, he was right when he said that I was using him as a substitute for a boyfriend, but he was dead wrong about my tots. At least he set me up on that date with Anthony Rashad, even though it didn't happen. He gave me some tired excuse that he couldn't go because his eyes were all irritated from some accident in the boys' locker room. So I never called or texted him back after that.

When Eliza Doolittle made it to the racetrack, Leah let out a little snore that sounded just like a low pitched cat's meow. Puck looked down at her. She was curled into his side with both hands cupped under her face. He looked up at me and whispered, "I'm gonna take her up to her room. She's out for good."

I nodded and turned back to watch the movie. When he had made his way upstairs with Leah carried in his arms, I realized that I could easily make my escape since my captor was out for the night. I got up and headed over to my things and gathered them all. Just as I was pulling out my keys from my purse, Puck came bounding down the stairs and rushed toward the door. He unlocked the door and opened it. "Let me walk you out," was all he said.

Like a true gentleman, he let me exit first then closed the door and followed behind me. When we made it to my car I unlocked it and placed everything in the passenger seat. I closed the door and turned to see Puck standing right behind me. There was that awkward tension again. I didn't know what to say so I just asked, "Your head feeling any better?"

He reached his hand up to where I had hit him and shrugged. "The lump's gone down, now I'll just have this awesome bruise on the back of my head," he responded. He saw me wince at the damage I had caused. "Don't be like that, it's cool. Just remember to swing harder next time. No more love taps," he teased. I let out a little chuckle and looked down at my feet.

"Okay, well, I guess I'll see you around. Tell Leah we can have an Audrey Hepburn marathon the next time I sit with her again," I said smiling up at him. He nodded his head and I made my way over to the driver's side of my car and got in. I waved at him then started the engine. He waved back and I made my way off into traffic. I looked back into my rearview mirror and saw him still standing there.

When I made it home, I told my parents why I was back so early. We carried on a little conversation about the football team then we said our "Goodnights" and I made my way upstairs to get settled for bed. After showering and putting on my pajamas, I wrapped myself in my covers and laid my head on my pillow. That song would not get out of my head. I Could Have Danced All Night had been on a constant loop ever since I got in my car. I thought back to how I felt in his arms and gushed at the memory of it. I shook my head to rid myself of these thoughts. The fact of the matter is that Puck is Puck; he's never going to change. Entertaining romantic thoughts of him could get a girl's feelings hurt quickly. I could feel the clutches of slumber slowly enveloping me and I surrendered myself to it as it crept in. But that damn song was still stuck in my head.


	7. The Ambadassador

**Author's note: Okay, I'm really happy about this chapter. It's nothing major in the story or anything. It's just that I wrote the restroom scene in this chapter way before I had the first chapter done. So you could say I've hit my own personal milestone or whatever. Is that odd that I have scenes written ahead of time and I have to write to fill in the gaps? **

**If you get a chance, check out the episode The Substitute from season 2. There's this little gem of a scene after the "Forget You" performance where coach Beiste is lecturing the football players for spraying athlete's foot spray in peoples' eyes. It's awesome because there's no dialogue from any of the players but you automatically know who the culprit is based on their body language and I just had to add it in some kinda way because Puck is genious. Oh, and the faces he was making in Special Education when he was watching The Warblers sing at Sectionals...priceless. **

**Oh and a big THANK YOU for even stopping by to read this story! Sometimes, in a sea full of Samcedes, I feel like I'm the only one on the little SHIP that could. So, much thanks for the Alerts, Faves, Reviews. It really keeps me going.**

**Skip on down to the Youtube and search Maxwell-Lonely's the Only Company for the song sung in this chapter. This song and chapter are both posted on my Tumblr as well. I wish I could do an interactive story where you can just click the song and it will play while you read, but no, such is life. **

**Anyways, enough rambling, let's get to it!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own GLEE or anything else (tv shows, movies, songs, products, etc.) mentioned in this fic. I'm just borrowing them all for a bit of fun.**

* * *

Chapter 7

Puck

Man, the week of Sectionals was crazy. First Mr. Schue approached me asking me to help bring in another member since Kurt transferred to that all gays school in Dalton. So I agreed to be the glee club's am-badass-ador and went to the one place I knew people feared me enough to listen to me: the football locker room.

Yeah, dudes had been giving me all kinds of space since Anthony Rashad's untimely accident with the athlete's foot spray. This fool had the nerve to brag about some date Hummel had set him up on with Hot Mama. He was going on and on about how fine she was, how he was gonna treat her real nice and introduce her to his "little friend." (Which I thought was a stupid name. He thought it was cute since his name is Tony and Scarface's name is Tony. So he figured he would name himself after that big ass gun Scarface had. But to call your junk "little," that's just plain dumb.) So I, being the perfect cock blocker that I am, boldly walked around the row of lockers with the can of spray in my hand and sprayed it into the air right above his head. He wasn't paying attention at that moment but he looked up and got two heaping eyefuls of foot medicine right in his face. I tried to play it off and said that I thought it was air freshener. When coach Beiste found out about it, she sat us all down and chewed us out about the situation. All the guys turned to look at me and I just gave them my little "Kanye shrug" like I could give a fuck, which I couldn't.

But that's beside the point. My plan backfired on me. I figured if I went in there and started talking about The Boss, Bruce Springsteen and how he was praised for singing about all his troubles that they would think glee club was cool and sign up. Wrong! I later found myself in a shitty situation when they locked me in an overturned port-a-potty for over 24 hours. If I had to weigh which situation was worse, juvie or the port-a-potty, I'd take juvie any day so I wouldn't have to go through that shit again. It was hot and stinky. I breathed through my mouth the whole time but I could still smell that shit. I banged, and kicked, and banged on that door for someone to help me but no one came. I thought I was going to die in there so I prayed and HaShem sent me an angel. Well he sent me someone, she was no angel but she saved me none the less.

Lauren Zizes. She's a whole "hellova lotta" woman. She seemed cool so I asked her if she wanted to be a part of the glee club and she said she would but only if I fulfilled her two conditions: get her a carton of Cadbury Eggs which were out of season and "7 minutes in heaven" with me. _O-kay_. I told her I would get back to her later on the candy and I needed some time to shower and wash the stench of port-a-john off of me.

Sometime later after I had cleaned up, I was walking down the hallway looking for some Jews to be nice to (part of the bargain I made when I prayed) when I was swiftly pulled into a janitors closet and shoved up against the supply rack. I had about two seconds to register her face before her lips were pressed against mine. Lauren really knew how to work her mouth. She had me wondering what she could do to other parts of my body. I was just getting into the kiss when she pulled away from me and told me that I was a bad kisser and was too scrawny. I looked at her like she was crazy (because she obviously was) and was about to defend myself when she grabbed me and we went at it again. I just couldn't get over her kisses. I could feel the stirrings of El Hombre as he started to awaken but she pulled away from me called me a "Sad Sack." I couldn't believe this chick. You mean to tell me that I, the one and only Puckzilla, can't turn on some A/V club geek with a bad attitude and a body that won't quit for like ever.

I didn't have time to think about it because it was time for glee so we made our way there and I introduced the newest member of the glee club. People were shocked when they saw her. I know Santana was especially when I told them she rocked my world after what went down in that closet. I hung my head after that admission but I spared a look at Mercedes. She looked mostly irritated at my actions. I think I saw a hint of disappointment there as well. It's better for her to be disappointed now that were nothing than be disappointed if we were something. She can do better than me. Besides, I would just let her down anyways. But whatever, I bet myself I could have Lauren's sexy mouth on me by the end of the week, especially if we win at Sectionals.

After glee club, I caught up with Berry who was standing in the hallway looking all lost like some little kid who got separated from their mother in the grocery store. I asked her what was wrong and she said she had boyfriend problems. Well if there's one thing I'm good at its fixing a broken heart. Since I was feeling generous today, I figured this would be the perfect opportunity to reach out to the Hebrew songstress.

We made it over to her house and went up to her bedroom for a little privacy. I sat down on her bed and she stepped out for a second to visit the little girls' room or something like that. I just sat there for a while looking around her room at all the girly decorations. The way she had it set up in here was so childlike. Her room could literally be the twin of Leah's room. To my right on the nightstand there was a scrapbook labeled "Glee Memories." I grabbed it and started flipping through the pages. There were photos of everyone, from the first few members to just about everybody we have now. She had a picture of all the glee guys dressed as KISS for theatricality week. I smiled as I remembered Matt; I miss my old smoke buddy. There was one of all us when we psyched out Vocal Adrenaline with our funk routine. Then I turned the page and saw Santana in a red puffy wig and some weird looking maid's outfit. I guess that was Rocky Horror week. My gaze moved down the page and my breath caught in my throat. There she was in fishnets and a corset, just like I imagined. Damn Mama was looking too good to pass up. She looked absolutely jerk worthy. I reached inside the plastic and snatched the photo off of the page. I made sure to carefully fold it so it wouldn't mess up her face and put it in the back pocket of my jeans. Rachel came back in the room and saw me just as I was moving my hand back from my pocket.

"Oh, I see you've found my glee scrapbook. Do you like it?" she asked.

"Yeah, I like it but I like what I'm looking at now even better," I replied laying the charm on thick. Hey, I'm a take what I can get kinda guy.

She crossed the room and sat on the edge of her bed. I came up behind her and wrapped my arms around her waist. _Damn I wish she was a little softer there. She feels nothing like Mercedes did when we danced. _I shook my head at the thought and tried to concentrate on the task at hand. She moved my hands and lay back on her pillow. I wrapped my arm around her holding her close. She flirtingly looked deep into my eyes. I didn't see what I wanted to so I closed mine and leaned in for the kiss. It was okay. Her lips are pretty plump so they felt good against mine. Her tongue flicked against my bottom lip. I opened my mouth for her and we began to French. Every now and then her teeth would do this little nipping thing to my tongue. I guess this would be what it feels like French a dog. This shit is awful! How does Finn put up with this? Finn, fuck! Now I'm screwing him over again and it's not even worth it this time. I disengaged from the kiss and told her that I couldn't do this to Finn again. That was the polite way of putting it. I grabbed my stuff and split. I needed to get home quick and wash the taste of desperation from my mouth. At least this experience wasn't a total bust, I didn't leave empty handed.

* * *

Later on that week Lauren and I were walking down the hall after class after the tardy bell had rung when a plan to redeem myself from the failed "7 minutes in heaven" incident in the janitor's closet popped into my head. Quick as lightning, I grabbed her hand and pulled her into the girls' restroom and locked us up in one of the stalls. She didn't even have a chance to protest because I started attacking her lips and moved one hand to grasp her behind the neck to keep her in place, the other grabbing her tight around the waist. I was so glad there wasn't anybody in there 'cause she was responding well to the moves I was putting on her. I was working my lips and tongue, squeezing her tight and reaching for places that I was denied access to since I wasn't technically her boyfriend. She deepened the kiss and did this one little trick with her tongue where it twisted and flicked the inside of my cheek and I almost lost it and let out a moan. My hands traveled to her ass and started squeezing it and it brought back memories of an ass not too long ago that was just as soft but a little firmer. It wasn't as big as the one I was currently appreciating, but definitely big enough in its own right. Damn, I realized I probably sounded like fuckin' Goldilocks and let out a chuckle at that thought.

"What's so funny Puckerman?" Lauren whispered.

I smiled, shook my head and reattached my lips to hers taking over the kiss again. Not too long after things started getting heated, the door to the restroom opened. Me and Lauren scrambled quietly so we wouldn't get caught. I ended up standing on top of the toilet seat hunched down so I wouldn't tower over the walls of the stall and Lauren was standing in front of the toilet facing the door. I put my hands on her shoulders to make sure I kept my balance. After a while, we realized that the new occupant wasn't going to use the facilities, at least not completely. I heard a sniffle coming from the direction of the sinks. Then I heard the paper towel dispenser grinding then an audible rip. Fuck, whoever it was, was crying. I really hate that shit. I started to lift my head to try and get a look to see who it was when she started to sing.

**_Lonely's the only other company  
'Less you're the love no other love can be _**

I stopped my attempt to see who it was. I knew that voice, there was no need look any further. She continued her song mixed in with a few sniffles every now and then.

**_Since you went away my heart (breaking baby)  
It's ripped into shreds torn apart  
(come back baby)  
'Cause baby…_**

The funny thing was (well, not really funny given the current situation but), I knew this song. My mom wouldn't let anybody know but she is a big Maxwell fan. She plays him all the time when she's reminiscing on the good times she had with my dad. That's why she kept it a secret; she didn't want people to know that she pines over an abusive deadbeat from time to time. I was kinda surprised Mercedes even knew this song; it's totally before our time. But then again, she always has kept an open ear to everything old school.

**_Since you went away I just  
( I cry baby, I cry baby)  
Look into all of the faces with no trust  
(no trust, no trust)  
_**  
**_'Cause lonely's the only one  
Lonely's the only love  
And I'm lonely just because  
You left me lonely  
Oh baby  
Lonely's the only other company baby!  
Lover there ain't no other  
Since you went away from me_**

By the time she finished the song, I'd moved to the floor in front of Lauren and I was staring between one of the gaps between the stall door and the partition. I could see her staring at her reflection in the mirror with a sorrowful frown on her face. Even though she was obviously sad, she still looked very pretty with her hair all curled up framing her face and those skinny jeans she was rockin' looked painted on. She also had on this shirt that was showing the silky looking chocolate skin of her shoulder. I briefly thought about kissing her there. I stopped eyeing her goodies when she sobbed a bit then stopped abruptly.

"Damn you Kurt for making me feel this way," she said as she gazed at her reflection.

She looked at herself for a second and sniffled again before she ran a damp paper towel over her face. When she had finished cleaning up, she grabbed her purse and started to fix her makeup. After she was done applying her lip gloss to those pouty lips of hers, she looked in the mirror and smiled at herself then shocked the hell out of me when she said:

"Fuck that! Lonely bitch! I'm a diva and divas don't need anybody!" and with that said she snapped her fingers, rolled her neck then left the room with a quickness. All I could see was the reflection of her perfectly rounded ass as she was headed out the door.

I stayed in that spot for a while with my eyes closed just soaking in everything I'd just seen and heard. Damn, I didn't even think about how Kurt leaving would affect her, I was too caught up trying to get my mack on with Lauren or anybody really. I eventually turned back around to see Lauren staring at me with this odd expression on her face. I couldn't figure out what was going on in her head so I just shrugged at her as she pursed her lips and squinted her eyes giving me her 'you're full of shit' look. She unlocked the stall door and grabbed my shirt by the sleeve and with a quick tug, we were on our way out the bathroom.

* * *

The night of Sectionals was a trip. First we sat out in the audience to watch our competition perform. I didn't mean to but I got a little emotional watching those old folks sing about loved ones long gone and the things they should've said to them when they were alive. That song really touched me because it made me think about my grandfather. He died before I ever got the chance to meet him. I would see pictures of him around Nana's house and she would tell me stories about him, but it could never fill that void. Plus, looking at them reminded me of the nursing home and the few times that I've met up with Mercedes and Tina to play for the residents. They looked so happy to be singing up there. I knew Mike was giving me the side eye but I just couldn't bring myself give a damn.

After the Hipsters were done singing, The Warblers came on and did their thing. I knew on the outside it looked like I was broadcasting my mean mug trying to psych out the competition, but I was really trying to figure out how many of them were straight. I guess if you go to an all boys' school they can't all be gay, right? But the way they were looking on stage with those huge smiles and the less than subtle eye flirting I saw taking place, I just decided they were all booty bandits and left it at that.

During intermission we headed to the back of the concert hall to get ready for our performance in the green room. The only good thing that came from that hellacious experience was the fact that I got to sit next to Mercedes. She looked so cute in her choir dress. I mean I know all the girls were wearing the same dress but none of them filled it out like she did. And her lips, they looked so soft and kissable with that pink lipstick she had on. I thought I saw her sneak a peek at me when she was looking through the program but it was so quick I couldn't be sure. Ever since that day in the girls' room, I couldn't get the song she sang out of my head. I scooted my chair over to her and whispered in her ear, "Mercedes, I've noticed that you haven't really had anyone to talk to since Kurt left for Dalton so I wanted to let you know that I'm here for you, you can come to me if you need anything."

She squinched up her face a bit before she whispered back, "What's it to you? You don't usually care about anyone but yourself."

I was a little hurt by that statement but I couldn't disagree with her. I have been pretty selfish. "Let's just say I made a deal with my Maker and I have to uphold my end of the bargain," I said with as much sincerity as I could muster. It wasn't a complete lie but it wasn't the whole truth either.

She just looked at me out of the corner of her eye and nodded her head warily. She didn't fully believe me. I didn't get a chance to explain myself because the cue lights started blinking; it was time to go on. I spared a glance at Lauren and saw her giving me that same weird look from that day again.

We all shuffled out of the green room and took our places on stage. The performance went well. Nobody forgot the lyrics and no major dance mishaps occurred so it was all good. In the end we didn't even win, we tied with Dalton. What kinda shit is that? We did way better than those dudes. They didn't even dance. The most they did was just walk across the stage and back all together, like a school of fish. The fuck? But they tied with us? Sure. Somebody was getting paid under the table for that shit to happen. Whatever. The only thing I had to focus on now was getting the school's number two badass to stand by my side. Valentine's Day is coming up and I think I know exactly what to do to get Lauren to see things my way.

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**Okay, so at first I was happy to finally get to this chapter and then I realized I hate writing cannon chapters because its redundant as hell. "We've already seen this, so why do I have to write about it?" is what I have been telling myself. But it is necessary for the story. The next three chapters will be in cannon. I'll be picking and choosing and skipping episodes that don't follow the progression of this story. Anyways, let me know what you think.**


	8. The Confrontation

**Author's note: Sorry it took so long to update. I wanted to get this chapter out much earlier than this. But I'll be honest with you, I had the worst case of literary constipation that I've ever had to date (sorry, didn't mean to gross you out, that's just how I think). I mean, I knew what I wanted to say but it just wasn't coming out. **

**For the song in this chapter Mercedes sings one of my all time favorites. It's a little song called Weary by one of the world's most neglected and underappreciated artists' Amel Larrieux. I mean this song means so much to me personally that I claim it as my anthem. I don't really listen to a lot of music out there because I can't relate to it so when I find an artist who's versatile and socially conscious, I place them up there with the great ones that we all know and love. Anyways, copy and paste this into the Youtube search engine and you will find the video for this song: Amel Larrieux: Weary (Label: Blisslife). **

**Another Thank You for your reviews and alerts. You guys light up my life. (ok, that was corny.)**

**Disclaimer: I don't own GLEE or anything else (tv shows, movies, songs, products, etc.) mentioned in this fic. I'm just borrowing them all for a bit of fun.**

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Chapter 8

Puck

Me and Lauren were walking in the hallway headed to class when I spotted Mercedes coming our way. She smiled and nodded her head in greeting as she passed by us. I was the closest to her and I couldn't stop my eyes from automatically locking onto her behind as she made her way to her class. The next thing I knew, Lauren yanked me by the sleeve of my shirt and shoved me into an empty classroom. _Hell yeah, I'm about to gets my mack on_, was what I thought until she pushed me down in the empty teacher's seat behind the desk and stood over me with her arms crossed over her chest.

"Do I look like an idiot to you?" she asked with a sharp tone to her voice. I opened my mouth to speak and closed it just as quickly. I didn't really think she meant for me to answer that question. "Don't think I don't see those longing looks you send her way every now and then. Ya know I **knew** there was something off about you that day in the girls' room but I didn't really think that much about it because you really did seem like you were all about Ms. Zizes, but I see I was wrong."

"Lauren, why are you making a big deal out of this? I was just looking," I stated trying to defend myself. My heart was beating super fast but I was trying my best to keep my cool.

"No, no see it's deeper than that. You don't just look at her like you wanna tap that, there's more to it than that. So what is it? You chase me around but you secretly want her, is that how it is?" she wondered out loud while slowly inching her face closer to mine and pointing her finger at me. I started shaking my head in the negative and opened my mouth to speak again.

"No, don't say anything. Let's review the evidence, shall we? Because I know for a fact that outside of the restroom incident, there have been other times when you've been sniffing up behind her. Where should we start? What about that time at Sectionals when you were whispering in her ear? What the fuck was that, huh? Or Valentine's week, after she sang that song?" she questioned while counting off the events on the tips of her fingers.

I didn't know I was being so obvious. I thought I was keeping it on the low-low. Only one person besides Nana and Leah knew about how I felt for Mama. I spaced out and started thinking back to the week of Valentine's when Mama sang her love song.

_Artie and Mike had just got done singing "P.Y.T." to Brittany and Tina. I was sitting next to Mercedes when Mr. Schue called her down to do her assignment. She stood in front of the class and told us about the song before she sang. _

_"This week's assignment was a bit tricky for me so I had to do a little digging to find the perfect song. Luckily, I had been searching through YouTube to find new artists to listen to and I came across this song and it just seemed like a good fit. Mr. Shue, I know you told us to pick a partner but I needed two voices to back me up so Tina, Santana?" The girls came down from their seats to stand next to Mercedes. She motioned for the jazz band to begin and then once again captivated me with her voice as the girls danced and swayed to the music. _

**_This woman is growing weary  
Of having to be so strong  
Of having to pretend I'm made of stone  
So I won't end up with no broken bones  
I can't fight every battle alone_**

**_I want someone to lift me_**  
**_Heal my wounds and give me kisses on my head_**  
**_Say words that should be said_**  
**_Fear is not the matter_**  
**_I would so much rather open up my heart_**  
**_And lay down my guard_**

Chorus:  
**(M) _If I could trust someone_**  
**(S &T) _To have my back and never do me wrong_**  
**(M) _Then I would give my love up_**  
**(S & T) _Just like that stop singing this soldier song_**

**(M) _If I could trust someone_  
(S &T)_To have my back and never do me wrong_  
(M) _Then I would –I would give my love up_  
(S & T) _Just like that stop singing this soldier song_**

**_Whomever said love was overrated  
Must not be getting none  
My independent days have had their fun_  
(M, S, & T) _But when the parties over  
And the workin' day is done  
_(M) _I just want to come home to someone_**

**_(_M, S, & T) _I want a love to take me  
As I am not make me compromise myself_**

**_(_****S & T) _Myself_  
_Or be like no one else_**

**_(_****S & T) _One else _  
_(_M, S, & T) _Fear is not the matter  
I would so much rather _**

**_(_****M) _Open up my heart  
And just lay down my guard_**

**Chorus:  
(M) _If I could trust someone_  
(S &T) _To have my back and never do me wrong_  
(M) _Then I would give my love_  
(S & T) _Just like that stop singing this soldier song_**

**(M) _If I could trust someone_  
(S &T)_To have my back and never do me wrong_  
(M) _Then I would give my love_  
(S & T) _Just like that stop singing this soldier song_**

**_I want someone to lift me  
Heal my wounds and give me kisses on my head  
Say words that should be said_**

**_I want someone to lift me  
Heal my wounds and give me kisses on my head  
Say words that should be said_**

**Chorus:  
(M) _If I could trust someone_  
(S &T) _To have my back and never do me wrong_  
(M) _Then I would give my love_  
(S & T) _Just like that stop singing this soldier song_**

**(M) _If I could trust someone_  
(S &T)_To have my back and never do me wrong_  
(M) _Then I would give my love_  
(S & T) _Just like that stop singing this soldier song_**

_When she finished the whole room erupted into applause. I fought the urge to give her a standing ovation. Mike and Artie did a side-by-side pop and lock wave to show their appreciation, Rachel sat in her seat worrying her bottom lip and Brittany was pumping her fist in the air as if she were on the Arsenio Hall show. Mr. Schue was still clapping long after everyone else had calmed down. _

_"Wow! You girls sounded great together! I have to make a note of this grouping for future competitions," Schue said enthusiastically while jotting down notes on his notepad. I spared a glance at Rachel and as soon as he said that, she shot a wide eyed look of consternation at Schue for that comment. _

_"Okay Mercedes, so from what I gather it's not a typical love song but it is a song about love. The woman is weary and lonely and is ready for love in her life," Schue added with a confident smile thinking he had it all figured out._

_Mercedes briefly rolled her eyes before correcting Schue as she countered with, "Well yeah, on the surface I guess you could say she's tired of being lonely but this song is about so much more than that. There's one, tiny, little two letter word that pretty much sums up the whole song: 'if'. _If_ she could trust someone she would give all her love. The 'if' makes one think that it could go either way but it actually holds the full weight of hope she has. She's not afraid of trusting someone, she's hopeful for the future because she knows in time love will come. If this were just some sad, lonely song, she wouldn't have sung it with as much passion and optimism as she did. This is not one of those 'All By Myself', I'm so lonely and I can't bear the pain so I must sing about it' type of songs," she stated as a matter of fact and took her seat. _

_After she schooled him, Mr. Schue sat there looking sheepish for a few moments considering what she had just said. Then the bell rang and interrupted his moment of reflection, he quickly reminded everyone of the remaining people that needed to perform for the rest of the week as everybody headed out of the classroom. _

_Mama just grabbed her stuff and slipped out of the room. I didn't even make a move to get out of my seat as I watched the sway of her ass as she left the choir room. I was so lost in my own thoughts about Mercedes and that soul bearing song that it took me a while to realize that Lauren was standing in front of me. She snapped her fingers in front of my face and brought me out of the daze I was in._

"Uh-Huh, I see you remember now. Your eyes were glued to her that day after she sang. You had that same faraway look and I had to snap you out of it then too," Lauren continued to grill me.

I really couldn't think of anything to say so I just kept my mouth shut. Lauren didn't have a problem with that because it didn't seem like she was going to stop anytime soon.

"Oh! And don't even let me get started on Rachel's party. I mean I know I was drunk and all, but my eyes don't lie so what the flippity-fuck was that Puck?"

I knew I had to be looking like a straight up grouper fish the way my mouth kept opening and closing. Lauren stood there with her back straight, hands on her hips and her foot tapping waiting for me to respond. I started racking my brain searching for something, anything I could give her that would calm her down. I had nothing for her. I didn't even realize when I had spaced out on her again.

_We were at Berry's party and we'd been there for about 30 minutes before Kurt and Blaine got there. I had been telling Lauren that we should've come later because no one shows up to a party on time but she said she had a family thing to do on Sunday and it was really important to her so I didn't push it. Berry made up all these crazy rules like she didn't want anyone to sit on the furniture (which was quickly ignored by Santana and Sam because they were engaged in a full on mack session in one of her fathers imported chairs) and we all had a two drink capacity with the wine coolers. I had to intervene because this party was lame and I didn't come all the way over here to play Pin the Tail on the Donkey like some fucking kindergarteners especially if I wasn't gonna get the least bit drunk. I told her that she had to let me sneak into her dads liquor cabinet to get the real stuff because let's face it, you can't get drunk off of wine coolers, I don't care how many you have, it's not gonna happen. (That is one of the reasons why I don't fully believe Quinn when she always blamed me for getting her drunk when I took her virginity. Seriously? They have like less than 4% alcohol in them; you might as well be drinking a soda or some Kool-Aid. But I'll never tell a soul because that would make me look an insensitive prick when I really just know my shit when it comes to alcohol.)_

_After I promised to replace the liquor, we broke out the good stuff and then the party got live. Everybody was taking shots, playing beer pong, or dancing. It was pretty cool but things started to get sour for me once Quinn and Lauren got buzzed. Quinn kept going on and on about how I ruined her life and Lauren was making fun of the way I look so I decided to make myself scarce and headed for the dance floor. As I made my way there, I saw Brittany in the corner stripping for Artie while he was tossing dollar bills making it rain on her. Any other time I would have been amused by it all but since I've been there and done that, it did nothing for me._

_"Turn My Swag On" came on (and I'm sorry but THAT'S MY SHIT!) so I was dancing and rapping right along with Soulja Boy without a care in the world. A little later Sam and Mike came over and we were all bouncing around and popping each others' collars and shit just having a good ol' time. Then the song changed to "Drop it Low" by Esther Dean and all the ladies on the dance floor started gyrating and popping their asses. Mama and Tina were laughing and grinding all over each other putting on a little show for all the fellas. Mike got behind Tina and started grinding with her making that little scene in _Dirty Dancing_ look like fuckin' _High School Musical_. I pulled down the glasses I got from Lauren so I could get a better look at Mercedes and Mama did not disappoint. She had her eyes closed with her arms in the air working her hips to the beat. She looked so sexy and tempting that I just couldn't resist. I got behind her and with my right hand I grabbed her waist pulling her close to me. She startled a little bit then turned to face me. She smiled when she saw it was me then grabbed my free hand and placed it on the other side of her waist and continued dancing. Yeah, she has to be at least a little bit tipsy 'cause she hasn't ever done anything like that before. I shook my head of the thought and just took it as my cue to go ahead and made sure I was nestled between the cheeks of her ass as we began to grind in little circles with our hips. At one point in the song, Sexy Mama got bold and started taking it down to the floor and then brought it back up. I followed close behind her making sure not to break our connection. After she did that I couldn't help but let out an audible groan that I hoped she was too drunk to hear or remember. She felt too damn good. And she smelled so good, spicy and sweet. Without thinking, I started moving closer to the source of that scent and I was just about to part her hair and kiss her on her neck when the music stopped and Rachel announced that we all play a game of spin the bottle. I backed away from Mama and put some space between us. Although I didn't want it, I really needed that interruption 'cause if I had stayed there any longer, El Hombre would have been fully awakened as he was already half way there. I looked over at Mike and Tina, Mike locked eyes with me and lifted his eyebrow in question. I just shrugged my shoulders and walked off. _

_We all sat around in a circle as Rachel was pulling out a chess board from a closet in the corner of the basement. I ended up sitting next to Mike who was sitting next to Tina with Lauren on the other side of her. Mike leaned over and whispered in my ear "I see you've got it bad for Mercedes, don't you?" I looked around real quick to see if anybody (especially Tina) heard him. I grabbed him on the other side of his shoulder and pulled him closer to me and away from the circle. _

_"Dude, you can't tell anybody," I pled quietly in his ear. I couldn't really deny it at this point. I was openly enjoying having her so close to me that I knew I couldn't bullshit my way out of it even if I tried. _

_"Why are you with Lauren if you want 'Cedes so bad?" he gently asked. I didn't really have an answer for him because I couldn't explain it myself._

_I figured I'd go with "It's complicated," people seem to accept that for what it is and when I told him, Mike just nodded his head while quirking his lips then sat upright. He got behind Tina and wrapped his arms around her and she leaned into his embrace. I was kinda jealous of them because they were doing things that I wished I could be doing with her right now. _

_We got back into the game. While Mike and I were conversing they decided that we would all take turns going counter-clockwise starting with Brittany since it was her bottle we were spinning or whatever. She spun the bottle and it landed on Sam who was sitting next to me. They both looked pretty pleased with the turn of events and leaned in for the kiss. Of course Santana had to make a scene in her state of alcohol induced jealousy, but as she called foul when she broke them apart, I saw her cutting her eyes at Brittany more than Sam so…yeah. _

_Next was Artie's turn so Brittany spun the bottle for him and it stopped on Lauren. We all raised our eyebrows at that pairing. Lauren got up from her seat and stood in front of Artie. He looked a little intimidated by her height but had the nerve to say "I dare you to come get some of this wheelchair lovin'." Lauren laughed and bent over to kiss him. Everyone let out whooped and hollered when they kissed. When Lauren sat down I saw Mercedes lean in to her and whisper something in her ear. Lauren said "It was good" out loud while nodding her head, Brittany and Tina also nodded their heads in agreement automatically knowing what Lauren was referring to. _

_Finn was next and he moved eagerly to the bottle to take his turn. I thought I taught him better than that. '_You're not supposed to let them know how bad you want it, be cool about it'_ I told him once. I just shook my head at him. Dude never learned. The bottle spun and everyone sat in anticipation of who it would land on. Rachel was shooting Finn yearning looks but the odds were not in her favor because it pointed to Tina. She turned around and looked at Mike as if she were asking if it was okay. He looked back at her and nodded his head assuring her that it was okay. "You're the one who wanted to play, now go on," he encouraged with a flick of his wrist. Mike removed his arms from around Tina and she got up to meet Finn in the middle of the circle for the kiss. Their faces got closer and closer, Finn was cheesing so hard but when they finally kissed, everybody got quiet. I heard a little "eep" sound come from the direction Rachel was sitting but I was too focused on what was going on. They kissed softly at first and then the kiss got heated and they went at it fervently for about a minute until Mike got concerned and broke it up. "Yep, that's enough of that!" he censured as he crawled over to her and wrapped his arms around her waist disengaging her from the kiss and sitting back in their previous spot as he plopped her down on his lap. Finn looked like someone had taken his favorite toy from him and crawled back to his spot in the circle like a sad puppy._

_The next person to go was Mercedes. As she moved forward and spun the bottle I looked around and saw that a few of the guys had what looked to be hopeful expressions on their faces. All I know is I was nervous as hell hoping it would land on me. I had butterflies dancing in my belly and my hands were sweating. The bottle slowed down as it took its last rotation. It was coming my way and I started getting excited. When it finally stopped it ended up on Sam. I was praying for a sudden light gust of wind or a tilt in the Earth's rotation that would inch it toward me but no such luck. I looked down in the bottom of my empty cup to hide the disappointment I knew was projected all over my face. Sam crawled to the middle of the circle and they both looked at each other with light smiles on their faces. They went in for the kiss and I just decided I couldn't watch that shit anymore. I got up and walked over to the bar then grabbed a wine cooler and poured it in my cup to refresh my drink. (That's how I made it look like I was getting drunk with the rest of them but I had been sipping on wine coolers all night so that I would be okay to drive home). _

_When I made it back to my spot it was Lauren's turn. I don't even know who she kissed I was in such a foul mood. I just kept thinking about how Mama and Sam looked when they kissed. There was something so not wrong about the whole thing and it just didn't sit right with me. I was aware when Tina's turn came because her spin landed on Kurt and he made some sarcastic quip about finally getting a chance to kiss all of his single ladies or some shit like that. As interesting as that was, I couldn't bring myself to give a fuck because I was still pissed about what had just happened. I hate that she can make me feel all of these fucking feelings. I'm not supposed to feel shit! I'm a sex shark for fucks sake! I could get any girl I wanted. _

_I was so lost in my own shit that I didn't even notice my turn had come up until Mike plucked me on my ear. "Oww, Mike, the fuck man?" I exclaimed as I turned to glare at him while I placed my hand over my ear to try to ebb the pain. _

_"My bad dude, it's your turn though," he __empathized with a shrug__ while gesturing to the bottle. _

_I looked around the circle and was met with all the anxious faces of my friends. I set my drink down and moved to spin the damn bottle. After I did it I sat back down where I was and grabbed my drink for another sip. I didn't even care who it landed on, I just wanted it to be over with already. That bottle seemed to spin forever so I just took a huge gulp of this wimpy ass drink. When it finally stopped, I thought it had landed on Lauren so I started making my way over to her but Kurt pointed his index finger and blurted out, "Look it's pointing directly at Mercedes' toe." I stopped and looked down and sure enough Kurt was right. Damn. I was in a tight spot. I looked over at Lauren to see how she felt about this turn of events. She just lifted her eyebrows at me. I didn't have time to figure out what that meant because Mercedes was already making her way over towards me. She crawled on her hands and knees and I instantly thought about that really naughty dream I had about her. Fuck! This was not the time to be thinking super sexy thoughts about Mama before I had to kiss her right in front of my girlfriend. She made it over to me and sat back on her haunches. I inched toward her a little more and just looked in her eyes. She had this coy look on her face that I found sexy to no end. I decided to just go in for the kill, shark style, when I placed my right hand on the back of her neck, closed my eyes, and attached my lips to hers. There was nothing about the kiss that wasn't absolutely perfect. We started out with a light peck just familiarizing ourselves with the feel of the others' lips. Her lips were so soft, plump, and full, much fuller than Santana's and Mama was a good kisser too. Damn her lips tasted good. I was trying not to bring tongue into it but at the same time I wanted to see if I could sneak a little in. I ended up licking her bottom lip then sucking on it and in response she let out a soft moan that everybody heard. The sharp raucous of everyone clapping and hollering startled her. She removed my hand, pulled back from me and broke the kiss. She wiped her mouth with the back of her hand as she looked at me with wild, shocked eyes. She stood up and walked to the bathroom located in the far corner of the room. After she left, all eyes were on me. I just shrugged my shoulders and reacquainted myself with my drink. _

"Puck, Puck! What the fuck is wrong with you? Why do you keep running off to La-La Land?" Lauren postulated while snapping her fingers in my face.

"Listen Lauren, I don't know what to say. I'm sorry, okay?" I apologized hoping that would help diffuse the situation.

"You're sorry for what, huh? What exactly do you have to be sorry for Puck?" she inquired.

"Um, I'm sorry for looking at her ass all those times?" I offered.

"Nope, try again," she stated.

"I'm sorry for…" a few moments passed as I searched for something to be sorry for but Lauren decided to intervene.

"…getting involved with one girl when you already had feelings for another?" she stated softly. I could hear a slight hint of hurt in her voice. I looked up at her with wide eyes. I didn't think she really cared for real because she always seemed so aloof when it came to us.

"Lauren, look let me explain. I…I fuck!" I started to clarify but it wasn't coming out right. I was having a hard time spilling my guts and looking into her eyes wasn't making it any easier. I got up from the teachers desk and took down a chair from one of the students' desks and sat in it. "Lauren, will you please sit down so I can talk to you?" I asked hoping she would comply.

She did, but she sat one seat away from me on my right. Once she got settled, I dove right in and told her everything. "I've had feelings for her since we got together last year. We were like one of those fake, Hollywood P.R. couples that just get together to gain popularity or whatever. I wasn't supposed to catch feelings for her. Hell I didn't even think I would like her that much and I didn't for a long time. She's so different from me and sweet and awesome..." I tried explaining but she cut me off.

"Get to the part where I come in," she demanded.

"Well, I had been struggling with myself ever since I got out of juvie. I screw up so much and I just couldn't see myself doing something that would hurt her so I never really pursued her or anything. Then you came along and I figured _why should I look a gift horse in the mouth_? But then you turned out to be a lot like her in some ways. You're strong and independent and you don't need a man. You challenge me and make me give it my all when I try to do things that I think will please you. But…" I explained when Lauren chimed in again.

"But I'm not her," she stated simply. I slowly nodded my head as I kept my eyes trained on the blackboard. A few moments of awkward silence passed between us. She got up and went over to where her backpack was by the teacher's desk and put it on. "I gotta go, I gotta think," she muttered as she left the room. And just like that, Lauren became number 208,754 on my infinite list of lifetime screw-ups.

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**Thanks for reading. Please review, tell me if this chapter was an easy read or whatnot. Constructive criticism is always welcome.**


	9. The Pursuit of Happiness

**Author's note: Sorry for the long wait. I struggled with this chapter but it's a long one (just under 6,000 words raw) so I hope that makes up for the time. Thanks again for all the alerts and reviews, they really keep me motivated when I need encouragement. A shoutout to anyone who reviewed and also to the anons on Tumblr for sticking with this story!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own GLEE or anything else (tv shows, movies, songs, products, etc.) mentioned in this fic. I'm just borrowing them all for a bit of fun.**

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Chapter 9

Puck

It had been a few weeks since the break up with Lauren. That first week I decided to just give her some space because I know that's what chicks usually need after a break or whatever. When the second week rolled around I decided to call her a few times but she never answered so I just left some voicemails saying how sorry I was and that I didn't want to lose her as a friend. I never did hear anything from her and she made sure she didn't sit near me in glee so I figured I had ruined another friendship as usual.

One day after leaving one of my crappy classes, I had decided to skip my next class and head out to the skate park to practice a few tricks on my board to clear my head. It was a random shitty day like Tuesday or something and I was standing at my locker reaching for my car keys when my phone buzzed in my pocket. I fished it out and saw that I had a text from Lauren.

**-janitors closet now- **

I reread the message and looked at the sender again. _What the hell does Lauren want with me in the janitors' closet_? I closed my locker and made my way down the hall where she was.

Before I entered the tiny room, I checked to make sure the coast was clear and quickly made my way inside. She was standing off to the side in front of the rack where all the cleaning supplies were stored. I closed the door softly behind me as I entered the room.

"Hey Lauren listen I'm really sor—" I tried to apologize again but she held her hand up in front of my face causing the rest of my sentence to get caught in my throat.

"Let me just stop you right there. You can save your apologies. You've done enough of that to last a lifetime. That's not the main reason why I asked you here today," she explained. "But I do want to let you know that I have forgiven you even though I don't completely understand why you thought you were good enough to pursue me but she was too precious for you and all that bullshit. So anyways, I still consider us as friends because you did help me overcome my stage fright for glee and that was really cool."

I was so relieved to hear that, it felt like a major weight had been lifted off of me. That's all I really wanted was to know that we were cool. I was about to say as much and I opened my mouth to speak but she stopped me again when she held up her index finger in my face.

"I have a few things on my mind so just listen. I've kept an eye on you for the past week or so and with the way you constantly watch her, I'm surprised no one else has caught on and called you out on it. I mean it's damn near stalker-ish. I know that you care about her, it's obvious. The problem is you let yourself get in the way of the possibilities for you two. And, I see her too. I see how she struggles daily without anyone here to back her up. The sad thing is you could be there for her if only you would get over yourself. You make everyone think that you're this badass, football playing, hell-raiser who could take over a whole courtyard hitting people up for their money all while singing about love at the same time. Yeah, I saw you around before the little port-a-potty incident and I thought you were tough as shit. Too bad you don't see what a total pussy you are."

"Hold up, who the fuck are you calling a pussy?" I barked without thinking about it how loud I was.

"Shhh fool. Calm down. Anybody passing by could hear us and snitch. I'm just making a point is all," Lauren stated trying to silence me. She was right, the tardy bell had already rung and I could hear people scrambling to make their way to class.

"Make your fucking point but don't call me a pussy," I hissed out with a solid glare at her to make sure she understood.

She rolled her eyes before she explained herself. "What I meant was you can somehow gather the _cojones_ to mess around with your best friend's girlfriend – and I'm not trying to rub salt in your wounds 'cause I know you're still kinda raw about that – but you can't even find a way to say three words to Mercedes to let her know how you feel about her. You're just sitting around making yourself miserable when you could be with her, even if it's just as a friend. That's why I called you a pussy 'cause that's not you," she asserted.

I stood still for a moment and thought over everything she had just told me. I lowered my gaze from her face to the different chemicals resting on the shelf that she stood in front of. I noticed the warning on one of the bottles with the skull and bones in the little red triangle indicating death from consumption. As I examined it, I realized that she was right. I was losing myself and I didn't make it this far by being scared of anything, especially not a girl I liked. I wasn't gonna let this get the best of me. I should just go up to Mama and let her know the deal and let that be that.

But then again, I am toxic as hell. I mean everything I touch turns to shit. What if I screwed up her life worse than I did Quinn's?

"Stop it. Stop fucking doubting yourself," she scolded after assessing the look on my face.

"How can I not doubt myself? I'm a fuck up. That's what I do, that's who I am! She doesn't need that shit in her life. Look at her, she's going places. The fuck does she need me weighing her down for?" I asked while accenting my words with hand gestures to make my point. I didn't expect the answer I received.

"That's what you've got me for. I won't let you screw it up. But, you have to man up and realize that she **does** need you. I mean you remember that song she sang for Valentine's, don't you?" she asked. I nodded my head in response. That song was extremely personal even though Mercedes tried to play it off as if it wasn't. Lauren continued after a couple of moments letting everything she said sink in, "Add that with the fact that all of her friends have basically ditched her in one way or another; Kurt's gone, Quinn acts like she doesn't exist, Artie's too distracted by Brittany being Brittany, and Tina and Mike are stuck like glue in Asian Fusion. So your little irrational fear of screwing things up doesn't outweigh the fact that she needs someone in her corner right now," she stated.

"You can't go through life being afraid to reach out to someone because you think you're going to be bad for them. Think about it, if you had a chance to be in Beth's life would you?" she asked. Without a shadow of a doubt yes, I still think about her all the time. I hate the fact that I'll never know what kind of father I could've been for her. I know that I would have given all of myself and more to be the kind of father she deserves. So why can't the same apply to Mercedes?

"And do you really think that you would be the only one looking out for Mercedes. If you do get with her, because of your reputation with the ladies, everyone in glee club is going to be watching you like a hawk to make sure you don't fuck it up. And, I highly doubt Mercedes would let you mess up her life. She knows she's got way too much going for her to ever let any man come in and turn it all to shit," she added.

I had to admit, she had a point, a lot of good points actually. Maybe as a screw up, I gave myself too much credit for being a loser. But I couldn't get over the fact that she – my ex-girlfriend – was trying to help me get with the girl of my dreams. "So you'll help me, just like that?" I questioned.

"Yes," she responded.

"But, why? Especially after what I did to you, why would you help me?" I wondered aloud. This little act of generosity had me suspicious.

"You think I'm just doing this out of the kindness of my heart? Oh there's a price. You have to hook me up with Fez," she responded.

"Who?" I asked wondering if she really was talking about that guy from _That 70's Show_. But that didn't really make any sense because that dude is like 30 something and I seriously doubt he would be stuck at some lame ass high school in the middle of bumfuck Ohio.

"He's the new foreign exchange student from Argentina, his name is Paulo but I like to call him Fez. Boo is hella sexy and I can't really figure out what his race is, which is totally hot. I've had my eye on him for quite a while now; even when you and I were – well, whatever we were. So here's the deal, you talk me up to Paulo and get him interested in me and I'll figure out a way to get you and Mercedes together," she explained.

I didn't know what to think about all of this. One on hand I thought it was too good to be true but on the other hand I thought it was too good a deal to pass up. I couldn't really see a downside so I was leaning more towards the latter. This could work.

"Okay, you've got a deal then, but are you sure you're cool with everything though?" I asked. I had to make sure that this was legit and there were no hard feelings about what happened in the past.

"Umm, yeah," she affirmed sarcastically. "Besides, I can't be too mad at you

since I had been crushing on Fez. Plus, we're too much alike and there was never any real chemistry. And I now know why making out with you never really turned me on. So don't worry about it, we're cool," she added while patting my shoulder.

I stared at her for a moment then nodded my head. "Prom is coming up in a few weeks; do you want me to get him to ask you?" I asked.

"That would be a plus and I'll see what Mercedes has planned for prom as well," she responded.

"Okay, cool," I said. We just looked at each other for a beat. "Alright then, I'll see ya around," I stated while backing up toward the door.

"Get the hell outta here Puckerman and go get my man," she ordered with a tiny smile quirked on her lips.

I let out a chuckle then left the small room with a smile on my face. Funny, that usually happens under a different set of circumstances.

* * *

Later on that week in glee, Schue had finally decided to scrap that horrible Laffy Taffy idea for a benefit concert that would help the Brainiacs get to their smart kid competition. I was still confused as to why Britts was on the team but I knew for a fact that she did have her moments when she could be surprisingly insightful when it came to certain things.

The theme of the concert was neglected artists meaning they were underrated and underappreciated in respect to their talent. I couldn't really think of any Rock bands that would be considered neglected. All the music I listen to is really cool. I got a little confused when I heard that Mercedes was singing Aretha Franklin because she's one of the most celebrated soul artists in history. I mean they don't call her the Queen of Soul for nothing, so when Mama explained that Aretha hadn't gotten any "Respect" in glee since she sang that song for her audition, I had to agree with her. Mama's track record in glee club really made it seem like she was a neglected artist in most ways too.

A day or so later, Lauren informed me that what she referred to as "Operation: Get Your Girl" was in full effect and she now had a way to get closer to Mercedes and help her out all at the same time. Apparently Mama was letting people (Rachel) walk all over her when they were deciding the order of who would sing since Sunshine Corazon was now admitted in the program. Lauren didn't like how Mercedes just went with whatever Rachel said just for the sake of keeping the peace in the club. So she came up with the genius plan of being Mercedes' manager to make sure her voice was heard and her demands were met. And with the way she was demanding things, Mercedes intended on testing the full definition of the word diva.

Since Lauren was working with Mercedes, the bar had been raised and the pressure to fulfill my end of the bargain to get that Fez dude interested in Lauren had mounted. Lucky for me, dude was on the soccer team so he was able to use the athletic weight room where I caught up with him one day.

"Hey, yo Fez," I greeted as I walked over to him as he sat on the work bench doing bicep curls with a weight in his hand.

He looked up at me all confused so I stood in front of him and said, "Yeah, you. Look dude, I know this girl – she's a real fly honey – she's really interested in you and she wants to go out with you. I just got one question for you, do you like big girls?"

He was still looking up at me with that confused expression and his arm was stuck in mid curl up position. I felt like a complete ass. I hadn't even introduced myself properly. "My bad dude, my name is Puck" I stated while holding out my hand to shake his. He put the weight down on the floor and stood to shake my hand.

"Hello, my name is Paulo Martinez. I'm a foreign exchange student from Venezuela," he introduced himself with a heavy Spanish accent. The guy was nothing like Fez from TV. He was tall, he had a deep voice, and a lean physique probably due to all the soccer training, and the grip he had on my hand as he shook it was firm and damn near bone crushing. They probably shake like that in Argenzuela or wherever he's from but I played it off like it was no big deal.

"That's cool; I thought you were from Argentina though, but no worries. So yeah, like I was saying. You've got an admirer and she would like to get to know you better. So how about this, there's a benefit concert in the auditorium on Friday night and she'll be there. All you have to do is show up and enjoy the show. She'll introduce herself and you two will take it from there. How's that sound?" I asked. He nodded his head slowly but I don't think he fully understood me.

"Just come to the concert, it'll be all good," I added hoping it would sink in. Then I remembered something as I was turning away from him, "Hey, do they have prom back in Argenzuela?"

* * *

Mercedes and her "manager" were demanding more and more stuff as the week went by. Since I was on the concert committee, I was acting as the official do-boy catering to Ms. Diva's demands. To be honest, I didn't really mind, besides the M&M's request was actually kind of fun. The night before the concert, I went out and bought ten huge bags of M&M's and brought them home to weed out all the other colors except green just like she had requested. Of course Leah had to bring her nosy self over to investigate what I was doing and she decided to help me. Her way of helping included tossing M&M's at me when she didn't think I was looking which turned into a mini food fight between us. Plus, she kept eating the rejects even though I told her not to and she ended up with a belly ache by the time her bedtime rolled around.

Finding the humidifiers to fill Mama's dressing room with was another thing. I checked with everyone in glee club to see if they had one at home but no one had any. I asked my mom to see if the nursing home she worked at would lend a few. She told me it was against company policy to remove any materials from the property for any reason. Well, that was a rule I knew for a fact she didn't follow because we had enough gauze, band aids, and alcohol pads tucked away in our medicine cabinet to last us through the next year. I don't know why she couldn't just let me borrow a humidifier or two for a couple of hours. It's not like those old geezers would miss them or anything. So I finally thought about checking out the Goodwill or the Salvation Army and that's where I found them. I bought about six of those bad boys loaded them up in my truck, took them to the school and dropped them off in her dressing room.

After I was done with the humidifiers I figured that would be it for her demands, I mean what else could she possibly need just to get on stage and sing. So when I caught up with Rachel and she told me that the diva now required "fresh puppies to dry her hands on," I was about to go in there and give her and Zizes a piece of my mind. This shit was getting ridiculous! But then I looked at Rachel, she was so frazzled and out of it after dealing with the diva. It was like she was getting a taste of her own medicine and she didn't like it. So with a groan of frustration, I turned away from her and made my way back to my truck in search of a doggie shelter to find Mama a mutt.

I ended up going to three different shelters between two towns but I finally found the perfect pup for my diva. He was this little brown Pomeranian puppy that was discovered along with his litter mates in a cardboard box on the side of the road. No one knew how they got there but the motorist who came across them was changing a flat when he heard them whimpering nearby. It was like the little guy was meant for her because by the time I had made it to the shelter he was the last one left. He was a spunky little thing with these adorable big brown eyes that melted my heart when I looked at him. When I first reached for him, he licked my fingers then he backed up and barked at me, then he came back and started licking my hand again. This dog didn't know if he wanted to fight me or love me!

When I finally made it back to McKinley, it was raining so hard I had to leave mutt man in the truck. (It was a cool night out so I laid an extra jacket of mine over his kennel to make sure he didn't get too cold). When I got to the choir room, the atmosphere was tense. I took a seat and asked what was going on. Artie wheeled himself over and started filling me in on everything that had happened up until Mercedes refused to sing when Rachel walked in and told us that she wasn't coming back inside. Lauren tried to call her but she couldn't get through. I came up with a brilliant idea and ran out of the choir room asking everyone to stall for Mama until I made it back. Braving the rain once more, I ran back out to my truck, grabbed the little fur ball and hugged him close to me while covering him with one side of the jacket I was wearing. After that, I jogged over to where Mercedes was parked and knocked on her passenger side window. "Oh my God! What now?" I heard her exclaim exasperatedly before her hand reached over to the control panel and unlocked the door. I got in the car and gave her a good once over before settling in. She was leaning back in her seat with her head thrown back resting on the headrest and her eyes closed; not once did she turn to see who was in the car with her. "I've reached my limit with you tonight Rachel. You said you'd rather have the spotlight than friends, well you can have your way, just leave me the hell alone," she fumed with that last bit ending in a grumble.

"She said that to you?" I asked incredulous for a moment but recovering after remembering who she was referring to. I wasn't about to let that slide though.

Mercedes jumped in her seat and her eyes widened in shock at the sound of my voice. She sat up and turned on the overhead light illuminating the space between us. "What are you doing here?" she questioned as she turned in her seat to face me.

"I have a little something for you, something I believe you requested," I replied.

"Boy, I am in no mood for games now. So just say what you have to say and go on about your wa—" she started.

"Since you're gonna be like that, I'll just keep this little dude for myself then. I think I'll call him Ozzy, yeah, you look like an Ozzy," I interrupted while taking the puppy out of the side of my jacket and rubbing him on his head. I snuck a peek at her out of the corner of my eye and quickly became completely enraptured by the bright smile that lit up her face when she saw him.

"Oh My God, Puck! I was just playing about the puppy and the whole carry me in bit. I can't believe you got me one for real!" she chattered excitedly. She held out her hands for him but I kept him in mine, I had a plan to carry out.

"What makes you think he's for you? I was talking about towels. When you mentioned puppies, I knew you weren't gonna to dry your hands on them because the smell of wet dog is nothing a diva should encounter before she takes the stage to sing. So I went out and got you some fresh-from-the-dryer, warm, fluffy towels instead. I picked up little Ozzy here on my way back from getting the towels," I lied while holding up the puppy. I made up that story so quickly, I almost believed it myself.

"Puck, you are such a liar! Give me my puppy!" she demanded as she stretched her arms out further, reaching for him. I held him off to the side near the windshield just out of her reach. She would have to come over the gear panel and halfway into my lap to get him (not that I would mind that though).

"I'm not giving you anything, especially since you won't sing for us. It's a shame too, you haven't had a solo since Sectionals last year and even then you couldn't sing because our set list got leaked out," I pointed out to her. I could see I'd made an impact. She was thinking things over but she hadn't quite made a decision yet, time to see if a little bribery would work.

"I don't know though, he does seem to like you," I stated as I watched the little guy start to pump his legs in mid air as if he were running trying to get to her. I put them both out of their misery and let her hold him, watching the two form a bond as she began to coo over how cute and fuzzy he was. He started licking her face when she brought him closer to get a good look at him. After a few minutes, I grabbed my little friend and kept him just out of her reach when she tried to take him back from me. He whimpered a little at the loss of contact from Mercedes. "Okay so here's the deal," I started. I made sure I had her full attention before I continued. "I'm gonna take little Ozzy here and we're going to take a seat in the auditorium. A minute or two later, you will grace the stage and sing your song. Depending on how well you sing and whether or not Ozzy and I liked it, I will consider giving him to you as a gift," I added as I stroked my chin with the fingertips of my left hand (the way Don Corleone would) while holding the pup in the palm of my right hand.

She snorted and lowered her hands and placed them in her lap. "Figures, you would bribe me with a puppy that's technically mine just to get me to sing," she scoffed heavily accented with a sardonic tone.

"That's the deal, take it or leave it. Either way, me and little dude are out of here," I shrugged as I stepped out of the car and tucked the pup back in my jacket to keep him from getting wet.

13 minutes later in the auditorium…

The curtains opened and there she stood. She looked gorgeous, like she belonged in some nightclub in Harlem back in the '40's. A choir stood behind her and the band was flanked out on each side of the stage. She smiled that blindingly beautiful smile of hers and I felt a fluttering deep in my belly.

We were all seated on the front row, Lauren, Paulo and I. I kept the mutt in my lap and petted him on his head to keep him calm. When I first sat next to her, Lauren was all smiles; apparently she and Paulo had hit it off. She leaned over and whispered in my ear, "Pay attention to the lyrics, this song is exactly what you need to hear right now." I turned to look at her and she looked me square in the eyes and nodded her head once to make sure her I did as she said.

The music started and the lights came down, Mercedes took a deep breath then gripped us all in the soulful tones of Aretha Franklin. I felt this sinking feeling deep in my chest as she sang the first few lyrics because it was like she was singing directly to me. I had never heard this song before but the lyrics were so true to the situation. It was like I wouldn't let her in even though I felt I had a damn good reason not to. But after talking to Lauren and watching Mercedes throughout the week, I realized that I was my own worst enemy. I really had to get over myself if anything was ever going to happen. I couldn't go through life walking on eggshells with people as if I was gonna break everything that I touch.

When she finished the song, everyone broke out in applause and cheers for her. I would've clapped the loudest, but I had the little beast with me and I didn't want to scare him. He started yapping at all the excitement going on around us. When Mama heard him barking, she looked at me and smiled. As she was leaving the stage, everyone rushed to her to tell her how great she was. She finally made her way over and stood toe to toe with me, her eyes never leaving mine. With a mischievous glint in her eyes, she held out her hands and demanded once more, "Okay, I sang. I'll take my puppy now."

I couldn't help but chuckle at that. "I believe the terms were if the big guy and I liked it, I might give him to you," it was hard not to tease her just a little bit. "So what do you say Ozzy," I added holding the pup in front of me, "did you like the song?" He barked and his tail wagged excitedly. He started doing that running in air thing with his legs trying to get to her again.

"Judging by his reaction, I'd say he liked it. So that only leaves you," she inferred as she folded her arms across her chest and stuck her hip out to the side. She really shouldn't do that because I was getting all kinds of visuals in my head with all those curves on display in that dress like that.

After allowing my gaze to drift back up to her face and with all the arrogance I could muster, I shrugged out, "It was okay, I mean, I guess you can have him."

"Okay? Just, okay?" she asked stunned at what I had just said. "You better be lucky you're holding that puppy or I'd pop you for that," she added when she came out of her shock.

"Whoa, Mama! I was just joking. Of course you were wonderful, you sang beautifully," I said trying to smooth things over. The look in her eyes meant she was serious and would definitely smack me if I weren't caring for the little ball of fur. "And since your performance was so flawless, I've decided that you can have little pup dude and—" I rambled.

"Boy, shut up and give me my puppy!" she ordered while slapping the side of my arm.

I handed him over to her and she held him close to her chest and petted him. I never knew I could be jealous of a puppy until that very moment. "Aww, you're a sweetie," she cooed as she held him. He licked her cheek and wagged his tail as she talked to him as if he were a baby. "I think I have the perfect name for you. I shall call you Snuffleupagus or just 'Gus for short," she stated while looking him straight in his eyes. I guess he liked the name if the way his tail was wagging was any indication.

"Seriously? You're gonna name him after a character on Sesame Street?" I chuckled out. She had to be kidding, that was like the weakest name ever.

"Um, yeah. It's a way better name than Ozzy. What kinda name is that for a dog?"

"Hey! That's a damn good name, like Ozzy Osbourne," I defended.

"You were gonna name this sweet puppy after a guy who eats bats?" she asked outraged that I would even think to do such a thing.

"He didn't eat the bat; he just ripped its head off with his teeth during a concert one time," I explained while shrugging.

"That's even worse! You are so crazy!" she giggled and smacked me on the other arm this time. I rubbed the spot she had just hit feigning hurt. She petted the puppy some more and he laid his head on her chest. She saw me watching them and said, "Hey, if you want to visit little 'Gus here some time, you can come over to my house and we can hang out, if you want to."

I was completely surprised by that. I never would've expected her to invite me over for anything really. "Yeah. Sure. That sounds like fun," I sounded so lame when I said that.

"Great, I'll call you," she affirmed with a hint of nervousness in her voice.

"Okay," a few moments of tense silence passed between us. "I gotta go get his kennel and stuff from my truck."

"Okay, I'll go with you," she turned to head out of the auditorium and I followed behind her. Everyone had cleared out, just as I had asked them to. Mercedes stepped out of the exit doors in front of me, but I stayed behind and turned to face the stage. The lights went down and the spotlight shined on the microphone in the middle of the stage. I saw Rachel come out from the left wing of the stage. She stepped into the spotlight and looked into the audience.

"Where did everybody go?" she asked the empty room.

I waited a few moments before I yelled out, "Enjoy your spotlight!" and stepped through the exit laughing my ass off at the look on her face when she heard me.

Mercedes was waiting for me in the hall and when she saw me laughing she asked, "What's so funny?"

"Nothing," I replied sobering up, "absolutely nothing." I crooked my arm out for her to hook hers through mine. She did and we walked down the hall toward the parking lot in companionable silence just thinking on the night's events and how everything ended on a positive note for once.

* * *

**So how do you feel about that whole Pizes situation and the deal they made? Did I do the characters justice or was it too out of character for you? (That's why it took so long to update. I worked on that first part for a month trying to get it right. I really didn't like it for the longest time but I think I did the best I could with it). What do you think Lauren said to Mercedes to get her to think about Puck? More Paulo? Do you like the puppy? Which is a better name, Ozzy or Snuffleupagus-'Gus? How do you feel about what Puck did to Rachel? What do you think he said to get all of those people to leave (including Schue) after Mercedes sang? (BTW he did all of that in the few minutes before Mercedes went on). LOL, when it comes to glee (and Mercedes in this fic), Puck gets shit done. That's why he's my favorite. He's the real hero of glee club, not Finn.**

**Okay so yesterday was my birthday and since I've given you the gift of a new chapter, you have to give me the gift of a review. Belated birthday wishes are great but I want to know what you think about this chapter!**

**Also, there's a pic of 'Gus on my Tumblr (link in profile) if you want to see what he looks like. There's a video of Mercedes singing _Ain't No Way_ too.**

***Next chapter I'll give you a little of Born This Way mixed in with some Prom Queen and then Puck is gonna have to get himself in gear. He's going to have an uphill battle if he wants to win Mercedes' heart.***


	10. Progress

**Author's note: So yeah, long time no update. Sorry about that. You know life and such and yadda, yadda, yadda. Anyways, I wanted you to know that when I was writing this chapter I was greatly influenced by your reviews so please continue to tell me how it is (Hint, hint. Nudge, wink). This chapter was supposed to include some segments of Prom Queen but I wanted you to focus on...well you'll see.  
**

**Disclaimer: I don't own GLEE (chil' I wouldn't claim glee even if it birthed me), it's characters, or anything else (tv shows, movies, songs, products, etc.) mentioned in this fic. I'm just borrowing them all for a bit of fun.**

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Chapter 10

Puck

Mercedes was leaning over me peppering kisses all over my face and neck. We were lying on a blanket in the middle of a park surrounded by a lush green landscape. Those plump pillows for lips of hers left little impressions of pure bliss in their wake. The pressure of the weight of her breasts crushed against my chest felt like everything good in the world, we were so close. With a feather light touch she ran her hand down my arm in the sweetest caress and intertwined her soft fingers with mine. I wanted to hold her and keep her with me forever but my arms weren't working. I couldn't move them, it was like they were weighed down or paralyzed or something. She sat up when she noticed me struggling to lift them and with a gentle lilt in her voice she asked, "What's wrong, baby?" I tried lifting them again and this time I succeeded but Mercedes was slowly disappearing right in front of me. I started to panic and sat up with my arms reaching out in front of me trying to grab her before she left me, but my eyes opened and all I saw was my reflection staring back at me from across the room from the mirrors on my sliding closet doors. My heart thundered in my chest pumping adrenaline through my veins from the panic I felt in the dream. I took a few deep breaths to slow my heart rate while I rested my arms on my knees. I ran my right hand through my 'hawk then rubbed the back of my neck to try to calm down.

I shook my head and decided to just go through my morning routine. As I got down on the floor to start the 100 pushups I usually do when I wake up, I thought about everything that had gone down this past week. Finn's hideous dancing skills broke Rachel's nose so she decided to turn herself into Quinn 2.0 with a nose job. I wasn't having that shit so I took her to the side and tried to convince her not to sellout which she didn't take to heart (which didn't really surprise me since nobody listens to me anyways). Somehow Santana got Kurt to come back and made sure he wouldn't get picked on by Karofsky. She must have had some serious dirt on Karofsky in order to leash him like that. Glee club did a performance to _Born This Way_ wearing these t-shirts which had whatever we were self-conscious about on them. Mine said "I'm with Stupid" with an arrow pointing at my junk. El Hombre's not really stupid though, I just completely lose the ability to think when he's…awake. Santana didn't perform with us but I saw her sitting in the audience by herself wearing a shirt that said "Bye Corn" and to say I was confused about that would be putting it lightly. The one shirt that I was the most interested in learning more about was Mercedes' which stated "No Weave!" I had absolutely no idea what that meant and I doubt it had anything to do with baskets so hopefully I would get a little more insight on it since we were supposed to hang out today. That's right, since the Night of Neglect benefit, we had texted a few times and she had actually invited me over to chill. I was finally gonna get to see my little _compadre_ Ozzy, or 'Gus as she called him. I know it had only been about a week or so since I'd last seen him but I kinda missed the little runt. So with my plans for the day in place and my workout completed, I hopped in the shower anxious for 3 o'clock to get here which was when we had decided to hang out.

* * *

Mercedes had just greeted me at the front door of her house and told me that she had the house to herself for the next few hours. I was following her as she led me to the living room. She looked sexy. I mean she didn't have on anything special, just an off the shoulder gray t-shirt and some purple fitted sweatpants with the word "JUICY" plastered on her ass. _Yes, that is correct. That ass is 100% juicy_. I was so hypnotized by the sway of those hips that I almost got caught peeking when she looked over her shoulder to tell me, "By the way Puck, you got me a defective puppy."

"What do you mean _defective_?" I asked. How can a puppy be defective it's not like it was a toy or something? You can't return it to the factory because it got recalled or some shit like that.

"He doesn't come when I call him or do anything I tell him to. He just sits there and looks at me with his head tilted to the side like he's confused," she explained while turning to face me.

I thought about it for a few seconds. "When he does something good, do you tell him he's a 'good boy' while saying his name and then give him a treat?" I asked.

"No, he never does anything good! All he does is eat, sleep, bark, and poop! I can't tell you how many times he's peed on the floor, my parents hate him and I just - I don't know what to do with him," she rushed out in irritation. I know she was pissed at the moment, but the way she poked out her bottom lip in frustration was beyond cute. I just wanted to nibble and suck on that plump little morsel of flesh until I had her moaning and panting—.

"Puck, why are you looking at me like that?" she wondered.

"I was just thinking. Maybe he doesn't like his name," I suggested. Well that was random as hell. I hope she bought it.

We made it to the living room and sat down on the sofa in front of her TV. "Boy, please! When I named him, he was all happy and licking my face so I know he liked it," she said.

"I think he was just doing that because he liked _you_, not the name. Besides, I started calling him Ozzy first and he didn't seem to have a problem with that," I retorted. I think the little guy must have heard me because the next thing I knew, I felt little paws tapping the side of my leg excitedly as he stood on his hind legs to greet me. "See that? He heard me say his name and now he wants to say 'hello' to his true master," I proudly proclaimed as I petted him on his head then picked him up and sat him on my lap. He started licking my hands as I was petting him.

"No, I don't think so. He probably just remembers your scent or something. It had nothing to do with the name," she stated as she shook her head in the negative.

"Okay. Well how about this? I'll go on one side of the room and you go on the other. Little dude will sit in the middle of the floor and we'll each call him by the name we gave him. Whoever he goes to is the one whose name will stick," I offered. She sat and thought it over for a few moments.

"This is just about the name, right? I still get to keep him?" she asked. It amazed me that even though she'd been having problems with him, she was worried I would take him if it went my way. I would never do that to her.

"He's your dog. He just likes my name for him better is all," I shrugged out.

"Oh yeah? We'll just see about that then," she uttered as she got up and crossed to the other side of the room. She stood there with a hand on her hip that she had poked out to the side and tapped her foot as she waited for me.

I got up and set Ozzy down in the middle of the carpet to begin our little exercise. I took my place on the other side of the room and looked at Mercedes and told her, "Alright, we'll start on the count of three." She nodded her head so I started the count, "One, two, —".

"Come here 'Gus. Come here sweetie. Snuffie-baby. 'Gussie-poo," she called to him as she dropped to her knees and patted her thighs. She totally interrupted my count, cheater.

"Ozzy. Come here, Ozzy. Oz-man, come to Puck-Daddy," I called to him as I also dropped to my knees and patted the carpeted floor in front of me. He sat there, in the middle of the floor, looking from me to Mercedes trying to decide who to obey. He was so confused. I almost felt bad for putting him through this just to prove a point, but when one little paw followed by three others started moving in my direction, pride quickly replaced any pity that I may have felt for the little guy. "That's right Oz-man. Come to papa," I said as he came over to me. I picked him up and petted him on his head and told him he was a "good boy."

"That's not fair! You cheated!" Mercedes accused while pointing at me indignantly.

"I cheated? I'm not the one who interrupted the count. What was all that 'Gussie-baby and Snuffie-poo' you were going on about?" I asked while doing my best imitation of her voice. She had some balls to accuse me of cheating though.

"Yeah, _you_ cheated. Why else would he go to you? He hasn't even seen you in a while. You must have some meat in your pocket or something," she argued as she walked over to me and started checking the pockets of my jeans. She had no idea what she just said and where my mind went when she said it. All I know is she better stop feeling on me before she starts something she can't finish.

"Whoa, Mama! Chill out before you wake El Hombre," I remarked with a smile as I gently pushed her hands away from me. (To be honest, El Hombre had been somewhat awake since I saw JUICY.) She scrunched her nose up in confusion then her eyes widened as she realized what I was talking about. She then backed up and gave me like five feet of personal space. "I didn't cheat. Unlike you, I gave the dog a respectable name that he appreciated. Now you can take little _Ozzy_ here and housetrain him using the correct name. When he starts behaving, you can thank me however you see fit. You should be glad I like you or I would've required payment for my services," I stated cockily.

"Uh, no. We're going to do this again because his name is 'Gus, he's just responding to you because you're cheating somehow or he missed you or whatever, but we'll fix this soon enough," she ordered. She moved to the other side of the room and waited. I wasn't gonna argue with her so I put the pup back in between us. We did this little exercise two more times with the same result. "Puckerman, I know you're cheating. There's no way this dog cares what his name is," she argued.

"Okay, first of all, I don't have to cheat. It's not that big a deal to me, I don't even want your puppy. So that whole cheating argument is a waste of time. And second of all, this little problem child of yours is finally responding to a name. You should be happy. Besides, if you think I cheated so bad, why don't you call him Ozzy and see if he comes to you?" I challenged her. She stood across the room with her arms crossed in front of her glaring at me. I know her looking all pissed at me was supposed to be a warning or whatever but all I could see was the squint of her eyes, the pout of her lips, and the swell of her breasts as her forearms pushed them up from the position they were in. She was so fucking sexy, she had no idea.

She glared at me for a few more seconds then I saw her give in and drop down to her knees to call the dog over. "Come here, _Ozzy_," she called to him with little enthusiasm. I set him down on the floor so he could go to her, but he wasn't going to go anywhere with her calling him like that.

"That won't work, say it like you mean it," I ordered. She glared at me some more but eventually did what I said.

"Come here Ozzy, baby. Come to mommy, sugar," she squealed out in a high pitched voice. Apparently, talking to him like he's a baby really works because he started bouncing over to her excitedly.

"Well there you have it, his name is Ozzy. And just for doubting me earlier, I think I will require payment for my services. I take payments in cash, credit, EBT or homemade waffles," I demanded.

"Oh, no, no no, no, no. You aren't getting any money from me! You come in my house and brainwash my puppy and expect me to pay you? Fool must've fell and bumped his head on the way in if he thinks I'm gonna pay him anything," she sassed as she left the living room headed for the kitchen. "Puck, what do you want to snack on? We've got cheese curls, I could pop some pop corn or we could have apple slices with caramel sauce," she yelled from the kitchen.

"I wouldn't mind licking caramel sauce off of those pretty lips of yours," I mumbled to myself.

"What'd ya say?" she asked as she popped her head out of the kitchen doorway to peek into the living room. Oh shit, did Mama hear me?

"I said I wouldn't mind eating some cheese curls," I lied. Please tell me she didn't hear me.

"Okay. Cheese curls it is then. You go ahead a pick out a movie while I bring everything in," she added. She didn't hear me, but I seriously need to chill out with that shit.

I made my way over to the Jones' entertainment center to check out what they had to watch. They had some interesting movie titles, most of them I had never seen before. Like there was a movie called _The Color Purple_ which kind of confused me. _Why would you make a movie about a color? What's so good about a color that it deserves a movie? Wait a minute, is that why Mercedes' favorite color is purple? Is that her favorite movie?_ "Hey Mama, what about this 'Color Purple' movie? Wanna watch that?" I yelled to her.

She came into the living room carrying a tray with two drinks and a big bowl of cheese curls on it. "No, you do _not_ want to see that. You aren't ready for it. Mm-nnh," she added as she shook her head in the negative. She set the tray down on the coffee table in front of the sofa and sat down.

"Oh, really? I thought this was your favorite movie or something, especially since I know purple is your favorite color and all," I said.

"No, it's not my favorite movie, _Dreamgirls_ is. I don't see how _The Color Purple_ could be anyone's favorite movie really, it's so depressing. Well actually a good number of black movies are really depressing like _Set It Off_, _Boyz in the Hood_, or _Jason's Lyric_, after I watch one of them, I just feel so bad. And how did you know purple is my favorite color?" she asked after she realized what I had said.

"Well, I mean, uh, you always wear some shade of purple whether it's in your outfit or on your lips," I replied while rubbing the back of my neck. Why did I say that?

She stared at me for moment with a skeptical squint to her eyes. She shook her head as she sat on the sofa with one of her legs tucked underneath her, the other dangling over the edge of the sofa seat. "So I like purple, but that movie is not the reason why it's my favorite color."

I looked at her expecting her to tell me more but she never did. She was too busy taking a sip of her drink and looking around the room like we weren't just having a conversation. So I guessed I had to be the one to take the bait and asked her, "So are ya gonna tell me why?"

"Nope, not really," she retorted then continued to sip from her drink.

"Aww, come on. You can't just lay down the foundation and not build on it. Tell me," I demanded.

She looked over at me in mock surprise. "Look at you, using metaphors correctly. Somebody's trying to pass Lit class this year," she teased. She thought she had succeeded in changing the subject but she had no idea who she was dealing with.

"Yeah so I actually pay attention in class when I decide to go. So now that I've told you one of my secrets, you have to tell my why purple is your favorite color," I figured a compromise would work.

"What's it to you?" she sassed. Okay so maybe compromises don't work on her. I never would've pegged Mercedes as the unreasonable type.

I shook my head and said, "Forget about it. I just thought we were friends is all. Friends share secrets and I just told you one of mine so I figured...but forget about it. I'll just try to find something for us to watch instead." I shrugged my shoulders and turned back to the large selection of movies hoping my little attempt at reverse psychology paid off.

She breathed out a long sigh before I heard her mutter, "Barney and Friends."

"I'm sorry, I didn't quite catch that," I asked while cupping my ear with my right hand so she could repeat what I thought I heard her say.

She rolled her eyes at me and said, "I _sa-aid_ Barney and Friends. It was my favorite TV show when I was little. I was obsessed with it. I watched it every day all the time, even when it wasn't on I watched the videos. My parents decorated my room with everything Barney the Dinosaur. I had Barney wallpaper, Barney bedding, Barney bath soap, Barney toys, I even had the little Power Wheels Jeep that had Barney on it. I wanted to be one of Barney's friends so bad. I would've even settled for being one of the kids who colored in the background," she admitted.

I tried to picture a young Mercedes in her room surrounded by the crazy purple dinosaur and enjoying everything about her personal space. I couldn't help the gut busting laughter that erupted from me. She threw a couch pillow at me which I dodged at the last second.

"Shut up! I knew I shouldn't have told you. You are not a good friend Noah Puckerman!" she pouted.

"Okay. Okay. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have laughed at you," I stated while trying to tamp down the chuckles that were still bubbling out of me. "If it makes you feel any better, I can tell you one of my embarrassing childhood secrets," I offered hoping to keep the peace.

"Oooh, okay, go ahead," she said excitedly while sitting up in her seat. I went over and joined her on the sofa while I picked up the little fur ball and sat him between us.

"Alright, so, when I started Kindergarten, not only was I a year older than everybody else but I was this curly-haired, chubby kid and I was different because I was Jewish so the other kids would pick on me. They would make fun of my name asking if I could fit all the animals in my bed and calling me '2-x-2' because Noah brought the animals on the ark in pairs of male and female, two-by-two. So one day I was watching _The Simpsons_, and I realized that kid Nelson was a lot like me but Bart Simpson was my hero, I idolized the hell outta him." She giggled when she saw the look on my face as I reminisced about one of my childhood heroes. "Bart, he's like this cool kid and he's kind of a bully, but there's a bigger bully than him at the school, there's Nelson. Nobody ever picked on him, so I figured I'd be a combination of the two, the cool kid who was kind of a bully and got mad respect because of it. So the next time a kid called me '2-x-2,' I gave him a knuckle sandwich and after that, anybody who dared to call me that name again got something worse. That's why everybody calls me Puck," I added with a shrug.

She considered my words for a few moments before she said, "You aren't the only one who got crap for their name. I'm not named after a car, but you try telling everybody and their momma that. I mean I've heard it all: 'Benzo,' 'M-Class,' 'High End,' but the absolute worst had to be when this _guy_ said I had 'more curves than a Nissan ad.'"

I smiled and shook my head in shame and started chuckling from that old, tired line I had used on her way back when. I still can't believe I said that. "You're never gonna let me live that down are you?" I asked.

"Hell no!" she laughed that infectious laugh of hers and I couldn't help but join her.

A few moments later after we had calmed down, I remembered what I wanted to ask her. "So, Mama, when we did _Born This Way_, what did your t-shirt mean?"

One of her eyebrows rose as she looked at me and said, "You know, I knew someone would ask me, but I never thought it would be you."

"Is that a bad thing?" I wondered.

"No, not at all. It's just surprising that you would want to know about such a girly thing," she remarked.

"Oh, so it's a girly thing?" I asked. Then I realized I might not want to know about girly things. "Please tell me it doesn't have anything to do with periods?" I frowned in revulsion. I really hoped this conversation wasn't heading in the feminine product direction.

"Puck, it's about hair! I would _never_ tell you anything about my lady days!" she said. She giggled and snorted at the huge sigh of relief I let out at her explanation and I laughed at her use of the term "lady days". She's so proper.

"Okay, well if it's about hair, what does weave have to do with it?" I asked.

"You know, I could try to explain this to you but I think I might confuse you," she started as she got up from the sofa and went over to the entertainment center. She picked up a movie, came back over to me and placed it in my hand for me to look over. _Good Hair_ was the title and it had Chris Rock as the main character. How was a comedy supposed to explain weave to me? "We'll watch this and if you still don't get it, you can ask me anything," she continued as she went over to load the movie into the DVD player.

She came back to the sofa and settled into her previous spot next to me but there was still too much space between us for my liking. I wanted to reach over and pull her close so she could snuggle into me while we watched the movie, but we weren't on that level. I mean I could so easily pull the old "yawn and stretch" move which would leave my arm resting across her shoulders and she probably wouldn't even say boo about it, but what would she think of me if I did? She would probably think I was "just being Puck" and that would be true, but it's so much more than that. W_ill she ever see me as more than just a friend_?

I decided to just pet the puppy so I could keep my hands to myself, so to speak. The movie played on, it turned out to be a documentary about Chris Rock's search for the definition of good hair. I'm not gonna lie, I was confused as hell especially when he started talking about relaxers. _Wait a minute, you mean to tell me black women put that stuff in their hair just to make it straight! Did Mama see that soda can? It's not even there anymore! The fuck?_ Finally the movie got to the weave and what it is, how it's done and blah, blah, blah. I know I checked out for a minute there when they were showing the hair competition. The movie ended and I was just as clueless as I was before we watched it.

"So, any questions?" Mama asked me.

"Umm, uh…what did we just watch?" I wondered.

"That bad huh?" she asked on a giggle. I nodded my head and chuckled at my own confusion. "Okay, well, why don't I just start explaining and you chime in when you need to," she started. "So basically I don't wear a weave anymore because when I first saw this movie a couple years ago, it really made an impact on me but I wasn't ready to do anything at that time. I really wasn't comfortable with myself and my self image. But now, I feel sure of myself and I know that I do feel freer without the weave. I don't feel like I'm wearing a mask just to fit in."

"Do you use that burning stuff to straighten your hair?" I asked. She nodded her head in response. "Why do you use that stuff?"

"Because it makes the hair more manageable and I can do more with it when it comes to hairstyles," she explained.

"Oh, well what about all the bad stuff that goes with it? Is it really worth it, I mean?" I wondered.

She opened her mouth in an attempt to answer me but quickly shut it as she pondered my words. Her nose scrunched up as she thought about it but she never did answer me. I figured I would just switch to another subject. "So, prom?

"Huh?"

"Any plans for prom?" I asked again.

"Oh, Prom! Uh, no. Nobody's asked me yet," she stated while avoiding making eye contact.

"Me neither. I'm still gonna go though. I have a dream that needs fulfilling," I admitted with a smirk.

"Really? And what kind of dream do you have that involves prom festivities?" she teased, her eyes full of mirth.

"Coach Sylvester's punch bowl," I grinned.

"What?" she asked totally baffled.

"Sylvester's punch bowl. It's a family heirloom that she's brought to every prom and nobody's ever been able to spike it. If I do it, I'll be king of the misfits and I can finally get my street cred back," I explained.

Mama just sat there and looked at me blankly for a second before she burst out laughing at me. I mean she laughed so hard, she started wiping tears from her eyes. "Puck," she managed to get out in between laughs. I was about to get offended at her for laughing at my dream like that but she's so gorgeous when she's having a good time like this. She started rubbing her cheeks in an attempt to calm down. _Damn, did I make her laugh so hard her cheeks started hurting?_

"Puck you can't be serious," she stated finally done with her giggle fit.

"Dead ass serious," I firmly retorted with my lips pursed.

She cocked her head to the side and looked at me with disbelief. "Puck I know you have better things to do with your life than to go out and spike the damn punch bowl," she pointed out.

"Aw, come on, Mama! Don't try to act all holier than thou on me. Weren't you the one who stuffed tater tots into the tail pipe of Coach's Le Car?" I asked knowing full well she was the culprit and a total badass because of it.

"I sure as hell did and I'd do it again if she tries to take tater tots off the lunch menu. She knows good and damn well that they're the only edible food in that cafeteria," she boldly defended. Mama's not usually one for swearing but when she gets passionate about something they start streaming out. "Besides my actions were justified, but you, you're just looking for trouble. Why can't you just go to the prom and enjoy yourself?" she asked.

"Because that's what everybody does and I'm not with that lame shit. I wanna do something that will get my juices flowing, something daring, you know? And I think you wanna be bad too. I can tell. You've got a rebellious side. Just look at some of the stuff you've done. Look, why don't you come to the prom with me and help me raise hell? You can be my partner in crime, the Bonnie to my Clyde, the Sasha Fierce to my HOVA," I offered.

She giggled softly and rolled her eyes then in a dull tone asked me, "Let me get this straight, you're asking me to the prom, not as your date but to help you be a menace to society?"

I looked deep into her eyes, lifted an eyebrow, did my signature smirk that always makes the ladies weak, took her hand in mine and asked her, "Mercedes Jones, it would be my pleasure if you would join me at the prom and help me make my dream come true. Will you be my anti-prom queen?"

She looked at me out of the corner of her eyes sending me her most judging look and said, "I guess so?"

"Okay, well it's not a 'no' so that counts a 'yes'?" I urged her to confirm.

"Yeah, okay. I'll be your prom date, Puck," she lightly rolled her eyes and giggled as she nodded her head. My heart swelled with joy because I knew she really meant it this time.

I almost jumped up and fist pumped the air but I didn't want to come off as too eager so I just said "Cool" and left it at that. But best believe, as I gazed into her big brown eyes, there was a major part inside of me that was turning backflips, doing the Dougie, and the Running Man all at once. I was gonna make sure my diva had the best time at prom.

* * *

**So there it is. For a long time when I was writing I had a bit of writer's block, then out of nowhere, all these future Puckcedes scenes started coming to me. So I had to write them so I wouldn't forget them and that combined with other things kept me from updating sooner. When all else fails, blame it on the Muse, right? Anyways, I love you guys for even reading my little literary baby whether you review or not. Oh and I wanted to give a shoutout to anyone who is currently writing a Puckcedes story or has recently updated their story after a long hiatus. Keep up the good work and let's finish these stories ppl!**


	11. Man on a Mission

**Author's note: I'm glad you enjoyed all the Puckcedes flirting that went on last chapter but now Prom is here! Okay, first let me give a shoutout to the lovely Kaybee80 for being my 50th reviewer. (Applause!) Also, I love that the re-emergence of Puckcedes in my little Glee-verse creates a huge divergence that effects everyone around them. Certain couples never get together or back together or even breakup. Some things happen out of sequence or don't happen at all (in the case of the Funeral episode. I don't know about you but Sue is at her best when she has it out for the glee club). All will be explained as the story progresses. As always, read and review.  
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**Disclaimer: I don't own GLEE (chil' I wouldn't claim glee if it birthed me), it's characters, or anything else (tv shows, movies, songs, products, etc.) mentioned in this fic. I'm just borrowing them all for a bit of fun.**

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Chapter 11

Puck

I'd been standing at the door of the Jones residence for the last five minutes. I had yet to knock on the door and make my presence known. I don't know why it felt like I had 50 butterflies dancing around my belly. I mean I knew _why_, I just didn't want to go through what I knew was going to happen. Half a minute later, I took a deep breath, shook it off and decided to just knock on the door and do the damn thing. A few moments later, the door opened and there stood the reason why I was so nervous, Mike Jones D.D.S., also known as Mercedes' dad. This guy was huge! I mean he was only a little taller than me but he had like 40 pounds on me and it was mostly muscle.

"There he is!" Mr. Jones exclaimed. "Come on in Noah, we've been expecting you."

_Okay._ I really didn't know what to think with Mr. Jones being so nice to me. I thought he was gonna grill me as soon as he saw me, especially with my history with Mama. "Uh, yeah, Mr. Jones. It's nice to see you again," I lamely greeted as I entered the foyer of the Jones residence.

"You nervous son? There's no need to be nervous, it's just Junior Prom," he said as he made his way into his home. I followed behind him heading for the living room. As we sat down on opposite sides of the sofa I noticed he was watching Sportscenter on TV.

I caught up on a few scores before I lied and said, "No sir, I'm not really nervous. I'm just anxious because I know I have to sing the opening song tonight."

"You'll do fine. And you'll have a good time dancing and carrying on with your friends. But just make sure of a few things for me?" he asked.

I turned in my seat to face him as I replied, "Sure."

The features of his face visibly dropped. All pretense of the man that had greeted me at the door was gone and replaced with a fierce, formidable patriarch of the Jones family. I knew that whatever was said next, it was of the utmost importance that I comply with him completely. "Mercedes Denise Jones comes back to this house before curfew, with a smile on her face, and in the same condition she was before she left," he stated with a near scowl. He didn't have to outright threaten me for me to know that there was indeed a threat in there if his terms were not met.

I looked him in his eyes and nodded once making sure I didn't show the fear that was swirling through me. "Don't worry Mr. Jones. I had no intention otherwise for this evening," I smoothed out. Mr. Jones relaxed in his seat and brought his attention back to the television. I took that as my cue to chill out and sunk into my seat on the sofa. With my eyes closed and my nerves somewhat intact, I was able to pay more attention to my surroundings. There was singing coming from upstairs that I hadn't noticed when I first came in. It was Mercedes' and another voice; her mom. I didn't know the song but it was beautiful whatever they were singing. One particular block of lyrics stood out to me though.

**_Love me in a special way  
What more can I say?  
Love me now  
Love me in a special way  
What more can I say?  
Love me now_**

_**Love me now**_  
_**Cuz I'm special**_  
_**Not the average kind**_  
_**Who'd accept any line**_  
_**That sounds good**_  
_**So reach into your chain of thoughts**_  
_**Try to find something new**_  
_**What worked so well for you before**_  
_**For me, it just won't do, no**_

They finished out the song then I heard her laughter ring out. I swear I could never get tired of hearing that sound. It wasn't long after that before someone was coming down the stairs. Mr. Jones and I both straightened up in our seats when Mrs. Jones entered the room.

"Oh, Noah, you're here. Stand on up and let me get a good look at you," she urged as she greeted me. I stood up and opened the sides of my tux to show off the suit. "You look handsome. You and Mercedes should be the best dressed couple there," she gushed.

"Thanks Mrs. Jones," I smiled genuinely.

"She should be down any moment now. Mike, you got the camera ready?" she asked her husband.

"Now you know I've got this, DeeDee," Mr. Jones scoffed playfully at his wife as he grabbed the camera sitting on the coffee table in front of him.

About a minute or so later, I was alerted to the sound of footsteps descending down the stairs and Mrs. Jones clapped her hands twice and squealed, "She's coming!"

There was a low "Oh Lord" that came from the direction of the stairs and I could just imagine the face Mama was making as she rolled her eyes heavenward because her mother, caught up in all her excitement, forgot that she was embarrassing her daughter. She rounded the corner and entered the living room a vision in purple. I was trying hard not to focus on the abundance of silky, brown skin she was displaying, especially the abundance of silky, brown skin I could see from all that cleavage. _How does Mr. Jones expect me to keep my word when his daughter comes down the stairs looking all beautiful like that?_

Mercedes greeted me and said, "Hey, Puck. Looking good," as she playfully smacked me on my arm. That smack did two things: one, it knocked me out of the daze I was in from seeing all this sexy in front of me; and two, it reminded me that we were just going to this prom as friends so I couldn't do or say all the things I wanted to said sexy.

I cleared my throat and genuinely complimented her by saying, "Mercedes, you look gorgeous," while rubbing the back of my neck. "I got you a corsage, here," I said as I opened the plastic container and placed the purple flower on her wrist.

She admired it for a moment before she looked at me and said, "It's beautiful, thank you." _This flower ain't shit compared to you honey._

Bright flashes of light came out of nowhere before I realized it was the camera with Mrs. Jones behind it snapping away. She asked Mercedes to move off to the side to take some solo pics then she asked me to do the same. Lastly, she asked us to link arms together and "Say Cheese!" for the couple shots. Mr. Jones stood behind her giving me the stink eye whenever he thought Mercedes wasn't looking. I tried my best not to let that menacing look get to me.

After we had finished taking pictures, I made mention that I had to get to the auditorium soon for mic checks and whatnot. (Which was a lie; Artie, Sam and I had done our sound checks earlier in the day. I just wanted to get the hell outta there. It was uncomfortable as shit.) So I turned to Mama and asked her, "You ready?"

She grabbed her purse thingy and looped her arm in mine again and said, "Let's go." A few minutes later, Mr. and Mrs. Jones were waving to us from the doorway of the house as we pulled off, headed to the prom.

* * *

Prom started off without a hitch. Artie, Sam and I sang "Friday" by Rebecca Black and everybody loved it. I had to admit, our version was better, even though it's a shitty song. I even caught glimpses of Mama out there on the dance floor dancing it up with Brittany while she waited for Artie to finish performing. I was glad they made it through their little rough patch. Santana is a major bitch for trying to make a move on Brittany while she was still with my boy Artie though. I'm just glad Artie was able to make Brittany see that Santana was trying to manipulate her. And Santana, she's so loco, she thought if she ran for prom queen and won, she could declare by royal decree that Brittany be her date or whatever. Man when Sam found out about that shit, he dumped her on the spot, took his name off the ballot for prom king and ripped their posters in two so that only her face was hanging on the walls. I laughed so hard when I saw him do that. I talked to him after and he said he was gonna break up with her anyways because he couldn't afford to date her anymore but that stunt she pulled just sped things up. Now she's at the prom with Karofsky as her date and running mate. Yeah, like I said, loco. I'm glad I stopped fucking with her.

On to better and more promising things, I need to figure out how I'm gonna spike this punch bowl without getting caught. I grabbed Mercedes' hand and escorted her back to the dance floor to see if we could come up with a plan to really get this party started. I honestly don't know why I thought that would be a good idea because as soon as Mama started shaking that donk, all possible schemes left my mind. I don't even know if I was moving myself especially when I caught a glimpse of her tits bouncing in her dress. Fuck! I had to bite my knuckle to distract me from all that unf! I was glad when the song ended because I was in serious need of some hydration after watching her work it. We left the dance floor and I helped her to a seat at our table with the promise that I would be back with some drinks.

I made my way over to the refreshments and munched on a few pretzels as I eyed my prey being guarded by Coach Sue at the end of the table. I see why Sylvester is so protective of that thing; it's a fucking big ass punch bowl. I was just picking at shit while keeping an eye out for any opportunity that would present itself. I decided to just act like I was getting some drinks then maybe; hopefully someone would distract her or something. No such luck 'cause Sylvester came up to me and said, "Don't even think about it Squirrely."

"Huh?" I wondered in confusion. _Who the fuck is Squirrely?_

She leaned in close to me and muttered, "I know you punk. You're planning on spiking that punch. Well it's not gonna happen, not on my watch jailbird. You can just skip your little felony inclined self back on over to your date and forget about it. Besides Jackee' deserves a good time and for some reason she decided to come with you so don't screw it up, Roadkill."

I just stared her down for a few seconds before I grabbed two cups of punch and turned to head back in the direction of our table. Damn if coach didn't have a sixth sense for sensing trouble. I only made it a few steps before Lauren stood in front of me and blocked my path. I was about to ask her how her prom was going but the look on her face had me swallowing my words.

"What was that? Did I just hear her correctly? Were you planning on spiking the punch bowl?" she interrogated.

"Uh…uh, yeah?" I admitted sheepishly. I looked over my shoulder to see if coach was in listening distance. I didn't see her so it was all good.

"Well, what about Mercedes, isn't she your date? Why aren't you over there with her?" she questioned as she pointed her thumb behind her.

"I, uh…" I tried to answer. Why does Lauren always have that effect on me?

"Okay, so let me get this straight. I did all that work, working as Mercedes' manager, getting closer to her and talking you up to her for you to take her to prom and totally ignore her?" she concluded. She was getting worked up over nothing.

"I'm not ignoring her. She's fully aware of what I wanted to do. In fact, when I asked her to prom she agreed to help me out," I explained.

"She agreed to help you out?" she asked.

I nodded my head yes.

"So when you asked her, what did you say exactly?" she questioned.

"I asked her to be my partner in crime and help me spike the punch bowl," I responded.

"You idiot! You can't ask a girl to the prom like that! Do you know how big a deal prom is to us girls?" she yelled as she lifted her hand to smack me on my arm but stopped at the last second when she noticed the drinks I was still holding.

"Well shit, what else was I supposed to do? I know she thinks I'm a joke but I really wanted her here with me so I asked her the best way I knew how," I defended.

"Okay, well ask yourself this. How much do you like Mercedes?" she asked. A lot, a whole damn lot if I'm really honest. She must've read me like a book because she continued on with, "If you ever want Mercedes to like you the way you like her, you're gonna have to be real with her. You have to put yourself on the line and let her know how you feel. After that, it's her decision whether she wants to take it further with you or not."

She was right. I know the shit I used to do to get girls won't work on her so I have to step my game up. "But how do I tell her I like her? Do I just come out and say it?" I asked.

"Uh…duh! That's usually how it works. You just look her in the eyes and tell her," she stated.

"I've never done that before, you sure it'll work?" I wondered.

"Just be real with her, she'll appreciate that much," she said. "But on another note, you needs to get your priorities straight. Getting your classmates buzzed is never more important than making sure your date is having a good time. Now go over there and sweep her off of her feet. Make sure this a night she'll remember forever fool!" she ordered.

I was tempted to bark out a "Yes ma'am!" at her for going all drill sergeant on me but I saw Paulo approach her from behind and whisper something in her ear. Lauren blushed. I couldn't believe it. Lauren Zizes actually_ blushed_. Man, I seriously need to know how Latin boy does it because that's just fucking unbelievable!

I was still shaking my head in disbelief as I approached our table when I noticed that Tina, Mike and Sam had joined Mercedes. I thought Sam would've skipped out by now especially since he's dateless at a prom he didn't even want to attend but had to because of glee. Now he's sitting at my table chatting up my date. Mercedes burst out laughing at something Sam said as I placed her drink in front of her. She said "Thanks" as she picked up her drink and took a sip from it while turning back to face Sam. I sat to the left of Mama and sipped my punch in an attempt not to let my irritation show. I mean I could've started talking to Mike and Tina, but fuck, she's my date! Mama laughed out loud once again and I just had to know what was up so I asked, "What's so funny?"

They both turned to face me and Mercedes with one last giggle said, "Oh, we're talking about his little brother and sister."

Oh yeah, that's right. Ever since the Evans family lost their home and moved into the motel and the glee club found out, Mercedes along with Quinn and Brittany had been babysitting after school or on the weekends whenever Sam was at work and his parents were out job hunting.

They started talking animatedly then erupted into another fit of giggles and chuckles so I asked again, "So what happened that was so funny?"

They both looked at me again but Sam shook his head as he said, "Dude, I would tell you but it was one of those things where you kinda had to be there to understand it."

Oh, so now they have little inside jokes and shit. Okay, I see where this is headed. I'm gonna have to shut this down like _right now_. I slammed my cup on the table, loudly scooted my seat back, and stood in front of Mercedes with my hand outstretched for her to take. "Dance with me Mama," it was a command, not a request.

She looked at me stunned and then looked at my hand and then back to me with the same expression. She eventually took my hand and I led her to the dance floor. She just stood there in the middle of the dance floor looking at me with her nose scrunched up in disgust. "That was rude," she remarked.

"No, what was rude was him hogging my date when I should be the one showing her a good time," I retorted.

"Well you weren't too concerned about me when you were over there trying to spike the punch bowl," she countered with her arms crossed over her chest.

Damn she's right. Plus, some of our classmates were looking at us because of this little scene we were putting on. I hadn't even noticed there was a slow song playing. I'm over here arguing with her when I should be holding her close and trying to tell her how I feel. I decided to just admit defeat so I could get back on good terms with her. "You're right. I'm sorry," I apologized as I hung my head. "Now can we dance?" I held my arms out in dance stance waiting for her to accept. She scoffed and shook her head as she took my offered hand. I placed my right hand on her waist and she lifted her hand to my shoulder. I could tell when Mama had relaxed as we swayed to Rachel singing the Paramore song that she sang in glee that one time. As I listened to the song I realized Sexy Mama really is my only exception, but I need to be hers too.

The song finished and Principal Figgins took the microphone to announce Prom King and Queen. It was a shocker, Quinn and Finn won (Whoop-dee-damn-fucking-doo!). Quinn looked so happy to finally have the crown she had desired for so long. She was literally tearing up like this was some damn Miss America pageant or some shit. I just shook my head and watched Mercedes walk to the stage to sing her song with Santana. They sang some old 70's song while Brad and Angelina danced their first dance or whatever.

I was done with this scene and wanted to get out of here. I found Mercedes near the refreshment table talking to Kurt and that dude from Dalton. I walked over to them and said "'Sup" as I nodded my head once as a greeting. Then I turned to Mercedes and asked, "You almost ready to go?" She said she'd be ready in a few minutes so I decided I would go wait for her at the table.

As I turned to leave them, I heard that Blaine kid say "Rude much" under his breath to Kurt then _he_ said, "You have no idea." Seriously? I turn my back and they immediately start talking shit about me? I just shook my head and headed for my table. They better be glad I have more important things on my mind or I would be making them eat those words.

Mercedes came back to the table after making her rounds telling everybody goodbye and whatnot. I cringed a little when I saw her hugging Sam. He hasn't said anything but I can tell he has a thing for her. Doesn't matter though 'cause I'll fight for her if I have to. And I don't make it a habit to fight fair.

She grabbed her purse and I grabbed my jacket and we split. The car ride to her house was silent. I was running through the different ways I could let her know how I feel without sounding too soft. Before I realized it, I had pulled right up to the Jones residence and my time had run out. Mama reached for the door handle and I reached for her wrist to stop her. "Stop, don't go yet. I've got something I need to say to you," I started. I waited till she had turned to face me. Her eyes were full of question as I continued on, "Listen, when I invited you to prom I did it wrong. I shouldn't have asked you to help me be an asshole basically. Because you're better than that and you deserve better." She opened her mouth to say something so I placed my index finger over her soft lips to silence her. Bad move 'cause now I'm thinking naughty thoughts when I should be pouring my heart out to her. I shook my head to clear those thoughts away so I could get to the root of everything. "Um, yeah, but what I'm trying to say is…I invited you to the prom because I really like you and I wanted you by my side tonight," I finally admitted to her.

She turned her head to the side and looked at me with a skeptical expression on her face. "Okay?" was all she said.

"Yeah, so when I say I like you I mean like 'more than a friend' like you," I clarified.

Mama took a deep breath and exhaled out a soft "Oh." She looked down at her hands and shook her head a time or two. She lifted her head stared at me for a second as she pursed her lips and scoffed before she said, "Anyways…thanks for taking me to prom. I'll see you in class on Monday."

I just stared at her as I watched her leave the truck. Even after she had walked down the path to her front door and let herself in using her key, I just sat there for a good ten minutes trying to figure out what the hell just happened.

I drove to my house and tried to figure out if she just blew me off or if she just didn't believe me. A little female insight might help so a call to Lauren would be in order. I won't call her tonight because I'm sure she's busy with Fez and I don't wanna mess up her groove, but she will be hearing from me tomorrow.

* * *

Saturday afternoon I woke up with a headache from hell. Since I wasn't able to inebriate my fellow classmates with a bottle of Jack, I decided to drink half of that bottle so at least one person got fucked up. I popped a couple Advil, drained my bladder, and got back in bed to sleep a couple more hours to make sure that bitch cleared my head before I called Lauren.

When I called Lauren, she picked up on the third ring, "You got Zizes."

"Hey Lauren, 'sup?"

"Puck. What are you calling me for? Shouldn't you be out taking long walks in the park with the diva by now?" she teased.

"Yeah, see that's the reason why I called," I stated.

"Shit. What happened Puckerman?" she asked exasperatedly.

"Nothing, I just told her I liked her and she said 'thanks for taking me to prom, see you in class Monday,'" I replied and then sighed in frustration.

"Ooh, that's bad," she remarked.

"I know. She probably thought I was just bullshitting her. I looked her right in the eyes and said it but she looked pissed afterwards. She rolled her eyes and shook her head when she said that," I said.

"Well I could see why she may not believe you. You are the male whore of the school," she started. "But you gotta try harder. Do something big to make her believe you."

"Something big like what?"

"I don't know, some grand gesture or something. Girls like it when guys put themselves on the line like that," she explained. Um, I kinda did that already and it didn't work out the way I wanted it to.

"Okay, well I sang Sammy Davis Jr. to her when I was trying to get with her last year. Should I do that again?" I asked

"I don't think it would be a good idea. She'll probably think it was kinda stale to do the same thing twice like that," she said.

"Well I got nothing so what do you think I should do?"

"You're barking up the wrong tree here. I'm a girl, guys go after me. I don't have to do all that, you need to talk to someone in the know, bruh," she said.

"Yeah, well thanks anyways. How did it go with foreign boy last night?" I asked.

"It went well," she giggled. Zizes is giggling.

"Ah, I hear that. This dude makes you giggle and blush and shit. He's doing something right, huh," I remarked as I remembered seeing them last night.

"Yeah, he is," she said then I heard the phone chime. "Oop, that's him beeping in now. I'll have to call you back. Good luck Puck," she said.

"Alright then, bye Lauren," I said and then hung up.

After a few minutes to think, I decided to call Artie and Kurt to help me put a plan into action. Artie was my boy so I knew I wouldn't have any problems getting help from him. Now I knew it was a long shot and I really wasn't looking forward to it, but I decided to give Kurt a call first to see if he could help me. He was the only person who knew Mercedes well enough to give me any information on how to win her over. Because of our less than stellar history that once included daily dumpster dives from yours truly, I mentally braced myself for an awkward encounter with the ex-Warbler. I dialed his number and after a few rings he picked up.

"Hello," he answered.

"Hey Kurt. It's Puck," I stated trying to sound more sure of myself than I felt at the moment.

"Puck?!...Um hey there. To what do I owe this pleasure?" he asked after a brief uncomfortable silence.

"Yeah, see listen Kurt. I kinda need your help with a certain situation," I decided to just jump right in and lay all my cards out on the line.

"Okay. What can I help you with Puck?" he asked seemingly curious as to why I was calling him.

"Well, see, the thing is I've been really feeling Mercedes for a while now but I'm having problems getting her to take me seriously and I figured you might have some tips on how I can get her to see that I'm not just bullshitting," that was the hardest confession I've ever had to make in my life.

Kurt let out a sound that sounded like a mixture between a scoff and a chuckle before he spoke again. "Wait, what? You're interested in Mercedes! When did this happen? You know she's not just some one time hit it and quit it, 'wham bam thank you ma'am' kind of girl, right?" he questioned animatedly. He better be glad we were on the phone and not face to face because I seriously wanted to punch him for that last question he asked.

"Yes Kurt, I know that, which is why I came to you. You being her best friend and all I figured you would know what I would need to get her to understand where I'm coming from," I remarked through clenched teeth.

"Okay, what do you mean you have feelings for her? Where _is_ all of this coming from?" he asked.

"Um, well I guess I've wanted her since we got together last year. She just never really left my mind. And up until a few weeks ago, I didn't really see myself as good enough for her but I realized that I was just making myself miserable. I could at least try to see if I'm right for her. I damn sure don't wanna hurt her," I replied once again spilling my guts over her.

A few moments of silence passed before he spoke again. "Puck, I understand that you may think you have feelings for Mercedes but are you sure that it's not just lust? You don't have the best track record when it comes to relationships so I can see why she would be hesitant to jump into anything with you," he added.

'No, it's not just lust! I can't get her out of my head. She even shows up in my dreams! She's the sweetest thing I've ever known. I just want to be with her, that's all," I pled. I hated how much I sounded like a fucking girl over this girl. She's turning me all kinds of soft and I'm not even with her.

"Okay, well what about Lauren? Weren't you just recently all gung ho about her? How does she feel about all of this?" he asked in rapid fire succession. It was kinda hard to keep up with him.

"Zizes doesn't mind. In fact she's the one who called me out on my shit and encouraged me to go after Mercedes in the first place. She's like a female version of Cupid except she wrestles and knocks sense into people instead of shooting arrows," I responded veering off topic a bit with that last comment.

"Errmm, I don't know…I really don't think you're mature enough to be with Mercedes the way she deserves. Just looking back on some of the things you've done this year alone is enough for me to say no. You just can't seem to get your head on straight. And, if you ever did something to hurt her, I swear to GaGa, not even Finn would be strong enough to keep me from doing bodily harm to you. So, no…I won't help you," he stated firmly.

I couldn't believe this shit. People really did think that I was a loser and that I was no good for Mercedes. I _almost_ let that shit get to me until I remembered she's worth fighting for. Plus, I owe this mother fucker for that shit he talked behind my back last night.

"You know I don't even know why I called you in the first place. It's not like you care about her for real. Where were you when I caught her crying in the bathroom about how lonely she was without you when you were at Dalton? You didn't even come by to see her after we tied at Sectionals but I saw you all hugged up on Berry and that Blaine kid though. So I guess Rachel is your new bosom buddy now? I bet you rank your friends by how much of a convenience they are to you. You probably told yourself 'Mercedes was only good for me when I was in the closet. I'm at Dalton now, I don't need her anymore' or some shit like that. But you wanna bring up **my** past and hold it against **me**? Here's some truth for you, mother fucker, YOU AIN'T SHIT!" and with that said, I quickly hung up in that bitch's face.

Fuck my mother-fuckin' life! I'm just gonna roll over and take another nap. Fuck this.

I snoozed for about 5 minutes before I heard the theme music for _Transformers_ playing from my phone. I remember when I assigned that ringtone to him after I saw him walk on Christmas Day. With a huge smile on my face I hit the little green button.

"Yo Artemis Prime, wassup?" I answered

"Wassup Puck-dizzle?" he greeted.

"Dude, that's so weird. I was gonna call you today"

"Yeah, Brittany's on her little psychic kick again. She said you would need to hear from me. Something about prom and how it went with Soul Mama," he explained.

"Phew! Man, okay what if I told you I was trying to get with Sexy Mama?"

"I would say I already knew: one, because my woman is observant as hell and she pointed it me out a long time ago; and two, because you've had it bad for 'Cedes since y'all 'play dated' back in the day," he admitted.

"Man, come on. You mean to tell me we've been boys all this time and you knew and you didn't say anything?"

"I knew it would happen sooner or later. Besides, you've got your work cut out for you going after Mz. Jones like that," he added.

"Man, don't I know it. So I told her I liked her last night but she didn't believe me or whatever," I rolled my eyes because I was still kinda pissed about it.

"Ouch! That's gotta hurt. You put yourself on the line like that and she didn't take it seriously," he remarked.

"I know and I tried to get some help from Lauren and Kurt. Zizes didn't know what to do and Kurt was just being his usual bitchy self so I really, _really_ need you to come through for me bro."

"Well let's see. No girl can resist being serenaded; it's like a scientific fact or something, I think they did a study on it. And, we _are_ going to New York soon—," I cut him off before he could finish because I could already see where this was going.

"Dude, I am so _here_ for this shit right now!" I sat up and patted my chest with my fist a couple of times because Artie is the fucking man!

"Exactly and if we can get all the glee guys to help out…" he trailed off.

"Nah man that won't work 'cause I've already got some competition. Blondie has his eyes set on her too."

"Oh really? Well scratch that then. But I'm glad we've got some time, I need to find the right song for you to sing. And, I know 'Cedes usually listens to that old school but, I know a little thing or two about that new-new," he explained.

"Artie, you have no idea how much I needed this man," I admitted with all sincerity. If we pull this off, I'm gonna owe him so big.

"It's nothing. You helped me get my boo so it's only Kosher," he said.

"Hell yeah it's Kosher!" I affirmed. I swear, when we get to New York and I put this little plan into action, Mercedes Jones won't know what hit her.

* * *

**Happy Thanksgiving to all who celebrate it! And, if you're interested in hearing the song Mercedes and her momma were jamming to you can visit my Tumblr or Youtube and search Tamia "Love Me In A Special Way". You see that little box right below here, leave a little something in it for me will ya?  
**


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